Donald Trump endorses 'great friend' Bolsonaro as Brazil Senate backs criminal charges

Ahead of the 2022 elections, former US President Donald Trump on Tuesday, 26 October, announced his support for Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro. Trump’s endorsement of Bolsonaro’s re-election bid came the same night as Brazil’s senate recommended its leader face criminal charges over his response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has killed hundreds of thousands of people in the South American nation. The former US President, however, touted Bolsonaro’s work ethic and personality and said that Brazil is “lucky” to have him working for them.  

“President Jair Bolsonaro and I have become great friends over the past few years. He fights hard for, and loves, the people of Brazil—Just like I do for the people of the United States,” Trump said in a statement. 

He added, “Brazil is lucky to have a man such as Jair Bolsonaro working for them. He is a great President and will never let the people of his great country down!”

Bolsonaro’s criminal charges over COVID handling 

Meanwhile, according to The Associated Press, the Brazilian Senate recommended in a 7-4 vote that Bolsonaro face criminal indictments, including for crimes against humanity, following a six-month probe into his handling of the pandemic. Separately, the congressional committee found that the Brazilian President pushed unproved COVID-19 treatments and ignored communications with vaccine manufacturers such as Pfizer. However, Bolsonaro has denied any wrongdoing and even called the charges “fantasies”. 

But the ultimate decision on whether to file most of the charges is up to Prosecutor-General Augusto Aras. It is pertinent to note that Aras is appointed by Bolsonaro and as per AP, the Prosecutor-General is widely seen as protecting the Brazilian President. Moreover, the allegations of crimes against humanity would be required to be pursued by the International Criminal Court.

Brazilian Senator Omar Aziz, who is also the chairman of the inquiry into the country’s COVID response, said that he would take the recommendations to Aras on Wednesday, 27 October. The Prosecutor-General's Office has said that the report would be carefully reviewed when received. It is to mention that irrespective of whether the charges are filed against Bolsonaro, the report is expected to trigger criticism against the Brazilian President especially when his approval ratings plunged ahead of his 2022 reelection campaign. 

(With inputs from AP)