Former Brazilian President Arrested, Detained As ‘Flight Risk’
Brazil’s former president Jair Bolsonaro — a longtime political ally of President Donald J. Trump and a dominant figure in Latin America’s conservative movement — was arrested Saturday under what critics call highly political circumstances, after Brazil’s Supreme Court abruptly declared him a “flight risk” tied to his disputed 27-year prison sentence.
The arrest order came from Justice Alexandre de Moraes, the same judge who has aggressively pursued Bolsonaro and his supporters since the former president challenged the 2022 election results. According to the Associated Press, de Moraes claimed that Bolsonaro’s court-mandated ankle monitor had been tampered with early Saturday morning — a claim Bolsonaro’s allies say is designed to justify his detention.
The decision followed widespread circulation of a video posted by Flávio Bolsonaro, a federal legislator and the former president’s son, urging supporters to gather outside his father’s home. De Moraes seized on the video as evidence of a possible escape plan.
“(The) information shows the intent of the convict to break the ankle monitoring to assure his escape is successful, which would be made easier by the confusion that would be caused by a demonstration organized by his son,” de Moraes argued, insisting the gathering could serve as cover for an attempted departure.
The justice further stressed that Bolsonaro’s residence was only eight miles from the U.S. Embassy — a detail that Brazilian leftists and their media allies quickly framed as proof of a potential asylum attempt.
Brazil’s High Court Escalates Its Political Crackdown
Bolsonaro’s arrest was the latest in a series of unprecedented moves by Brazil’s judiciary. In September, a majority of Supreme Court justices — including de Moraes — found him guilty of attempting a coup, participating in an armed criminal organization, the violent “abolition of the democratic rule of law,” and two counts involving damage to state property. It marked the first time in Brazilian history that a former president had been convicted of attempting a coup.
De Moraes has repeatedly framed Bolsonaro’s actions as a threat to the country’s democratic institutions.
“A series of executive acts were carried out aimed at breaking the democratic rule of law and perpetuating power through a coup d’état,” he said.
Ahead of the ruling, he warned that Brazil “almost returned to a dictatorship that lasted 20 years” due to “a criminal organization built by a political group that doesn’t know how to lose elections.”
Bolsonaro has maintained that his discussions about ways to remain in office were conducted within legal bounds, but de Moraes dismissed the defense entirely.
The Rise, Fall, and Continued Influence of Bolsonaro
Bolsonaro surged to power in 2018 after defeating left-wing candidate Fernando Haddad, riding a wave of anti-establishment populism similar to the rise of President Trump during his first term. His campaign nearly ended after an assassination attempt in which he was stabbed and seriously injured — an attack that only strengthened his standing among conservative voters.
After Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva returned to the presidency in 2023, thousands of Bolsonaro supporters marched on federal buildings in Brasília. Brazil’s Superior Electoral Court later banned Bolsonaro from holding office until 2030, a ruling widely condemned by conservatives worldwide as a politically motivated purge.
Bolsonaro — regularly called the “Trump of the Tropics” — has remained close to President Trump. As The Hill noted, the two leaders have maintained a strong alliance even as Bolsonaro faces escalating legal threats at home.
President Trump reacted to the arrest with disappointment, saying: “It’s too bad,“ according to a White House press pool report.
During Trump’s initial reelection campaign in 2020, Bolsonaro publicly endorsed him. And in August of this year, President Trump imposed a 50 percent tariff on all Brazilian goods in response to what he called Brazil’s weaponized prosecution of Bolsonaro.
In a Truth Social post explaining the tariffs, the president wrote that they were imposed “due in part to Brazil’s insidious attacks on Free Elections and the fundamental Free Speech Rights of Americans.”
He added: “The way that Brazil has treated former President Bolsonaro, a Highly Respected Leader throughout the World during his Term, including by the United States, is an international disgrace. This Trial should not be taking place. It is a Witch Hunt that should end IMMEDIATELY!”
Bolsonaro’s arrest is expected to intensify political tensions both within Brazil and internationally, raising concerns that the country’s judiciary has fully embraced criminalizing dissent — a move that could reshape Brazil’s political future and reverberate across the Americas.