Bolsonaro, the former president who challenged democracy and ended up under house arrest

São Paulo.- While he was president of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro raised three possible destinations for his future: “Prison, death or victory”. This Monday marked the first: detained under house arrest in the context of a case for maneuvering with his “friend” Donald Trump to shelve the trial he faces for coup.

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The far-right leader was preventively arrested at his home in Brasilia, by order of Supreme Court judge Alexandre de Moraes, who decreed the immediate application of the house arrest regime for failing to comply with the precautionary measures imposed on him by the court. Bolsonaro, a retired Army captain, nostalgic for military dictatorships and a symbol of the global ultra wave, has been wearing an electronic ankle bracelet that monitors his movements for a week. Even so, he continued to defy the Supreme Court. Last Friday, he attacked De Moraes in front of a crowd of journalists with their cell phones raised. “This here is a symbol of maximum humiliation in our country. An innocent person. It’s cowardice what they are doing to a former president of the Republic,” he claimed aggressively, while pointing to the device attached to his left ankle. On Sunday, he spoke via telephone during a demonstration in which his supporters participated in São Paulo. De Moraes, public enemy number one of Bolsonarism, interpreted the action as a violation of the precautionary measures, which included not using social media either directly or indirectly, and ordered house arrest. The legal problems don’t end there for the former president, who has been in the courts since leaving power on January 1, 2023. Disqualified until 2030 for abuse of power in the 2022 campaign, in which he sought re-election and failed against the progressive Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Bolsonaro faces a trial for allegedly “leading” an attempted coup against his successor. The Prosecution accuses him of five crimes, whose combined sentences could reach 40 years in prison. A sentence is expected in September or October. His journey in the Justice system was preceded by a long political career that reached its peak between 2019 and 2022, when he held the head of state of the largest economy in Latin America. A previously unthinkable destination for this descendant of Italian migrants who was formerly a councilor in Rio de Janeiro and a federal deputy for 28 years, during which time he only emerged from anonymity due to comments with an authoritarian and sexist bias.

A President on Coals

Tension was also the hallmark of his presidential term, which he won in 2018 amid the corruption scandals of Operation Car Wash and after a campaign marked by the stabbing he suffered at the hands of a mentally ill person at a rally, which still causes him serious health problems today. Bolsonaro encouraged the use of weapons among civilians, disobeyed the Justice, relaxed environmental legislation and treated the covid-19 pandemic with disdain, which killed more than 700,000 Brazilians. “We are going to face the virus with reality. That’s life. We are all going to die someday,” he said, criticizing the social distancing measures during the first months of the crisis. Despite his erratic handling of the pandemic, he nearly won re-election in 2022, boosted by his ‘evangelical’ agenda, which opposed abortion and “gender ideology.” The difference was minimal compared to Lula: 1.8 points in a close second round. But he never acknowledged his defeat and, according to the Public Prosecutor’s Office, conspired with former ministers and high-ranking military officials to annul the elections, prevent the inauguration of his successor, and remain in power, in a plan that included capturing De Moraes and even assassinating Lula. He denies any plot and claims that he barely sought “alternatives” within the Constitution. Frustrated, he financed his son and deputy Eduardo to go live in the United States and collaborate with the Trump administration to impose sanctions on Brazil for the coup trial.

A Rebel Military Man

Although before being an ultra-politician, he was a rebel military man. Born on March 21, 1955, into a humble family in the municipality of Glicério, in the interior of São Paulo, Bolsonaro enlisted in the Armed Forces. He was trained in 1977. He joined the parachute brigade and was promoted to captain. That was his military career. In 1986, with democracy already back after two decades of dictatorship, he wrote an explosive article in the press in which he demanded better salaries for the category, almost calling for insubordination. It took him two weeks in the dungeon. Today, at 70 years old, he returns to prison, now prosecuted for sedition and still convinced that he can be a candidate in the 2026 presidential elections.