White House: US has not received Bolsonaro extradition request from Brazil
Naomi Lim
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Brazil has not asked the U.S. to extradite Jair Bolsonaro, the country’s former president, after his supporters stormed the National Congress, Supreme Court, and presidential palace in Brasilia in scenes reminiscent of Jan. 6.
“We’re not, as far as I know, in direct contact with Bolsonaro, so I can’t speak definitively about his whereabouts,” White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters Monday of the former leader, who is in Florida after spending New Year’s Eve with former President Donald Trump. “We have not, as of now, received any official requests from the Brazilian government related to Bolsonaro,” Sullivan added.
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Visa issues are governed “by legal modalities,” according to Sullivan, deferring to the State Department. But if the U.S. were to receive a request, it would be treated “seriously,” he said. In the meantime, there are no plans for President Joe Biden to speak with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Lula, who was inaugurated last week, though Bolsonaro has not conceded, has criticized the protesters as “fanatic fascists” and introduced a state of federal intervention in the nation’s capital. Roughly 300 people have been arrested after destroying items ranging from furniture to documents.
Sullivan spoke with reporters in Mexico City before Biden’s bilateral meeting with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and his trilateral meeting with Lopez Obrador and Canadian counterpart Justin Trudeau during the 10th North American Leaders’ Summit.
The trio released a statement earlier Monday, reiterating that Canada, Mexico, and the U.S. “condemn the Jan. 8 attacks on Brazil’s democracy and on the peaceful transfer of power.”
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“We stand with Brazil as it safeguards its democratic institutions,” they wrote. “Our governments support the free will of the people of Brazil. We look forward to working with President Lula on delivering for our countries, the Western Hemisphere, and beyond.”
Biden told reporters during his first border trip last weekend that what unfolded in Brazil was “outrageous.”