(Reuters) -Brazil’s former president Jair Bolsonaro is planning a political comeback, anticipating support from U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, which may include using economic sanctions against current President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.
“Trump is back, and it’s a sign we’ll be back too,” Bolsonaro, who has been barred from running for office until 2030 and faces criminal charges for allegedly plotting a coup, said in an interview with the Journal.
Bolsonaro has denied any wrongdoing and claimed to be the victim of a witch hunt by President Lula and left-leaning judges, the report said.
“They don’t just want me in jail, they want me dead,” the 69-year-old told the newspaper.
Trump’s incoming administration did not immediately respond to a Reuters’ request for comment. Bolsonaro’s lawyer declined to comment on the newspaper interview, and Lula’s office also declined comment.
On Tuesday, Brazilian federal police presented evidence to the Supreme Court that Bolsonaro was directly involved in plotting a coup to overturn the outcome of the 2022 election he lost. Police also said that Bolsonaro had knowledge of a plan to assassinate Lula before he took office.
The final police report, the result of a nearly two-year investigation, laid out evidence gathered from search warrants, wiretaps, financial records and plea bargain testimony pointing to a criminal conspiracy with Bolsonaro at the helm.
Trump’s electoral victory in the United States has injected new energy into Brazil’s hard right and stirred hopes that Bolsonaro can mirror his return to power despite legal obstacles to running for office in 2026.
(Reporting by Bipasha Dey in Bengaluru; Editing by Ros Russell and Angus MacSwan)
