The escape of dozens of Bolsonaro supporters in Argentina, on whom a restraining order weighs prison preventive for participating in the looting of institutional buildings on January 8, 2023, could become a diplomatic case. Last week, within the framework of the 28th phase of Operation Lesa Patria of the Brazilian Federal Police (PF), 50 people were arrested by order of Judge Alexandre de Moraes, of the Supreme Federal Court (STF), rapporteur of the case. Missing from the list are 159 Bolsonaro supporters for whom an arrest warrant was issued. Of them, 47 were in Argentina, but according to PF estimates, the figure could be higher. Brazil’s Foreign Ministry, Itamaraty, told Infobae that “last Friday, June 7, the Brazilian Embassy in Buenos Aires sent the Argentine Foreign Ministry a letter from the Supreme Court requesting verification that 143 fugitives from Brazilian justice are in Argentine territory.”
This is a necessary step in case Brazil wants to extradite them, as stated in the Brazilian press. Last Saturday, the Argentine Minister of Security, Patricia Bullrich, had declared in an interview with radio Miter that he did not know the whereabouts of the Brazilian fugitives and that he had not received any formal request for extradition.
“At this moment, at least to the Ministry of Security, the request for people, or names, or lists has not arrived. For now this remains propaganda, but not a valid legal fact,” Bullrich told one of Argentina’s most popular radio stations.
Meanwhile, the Brazilian Federal Police office in Buenos Aires announced that it would include Brazilian fugitives on the red list of Ameripol, the Police Community of the Americas, a continental police cooperation body created in 2007 to facilitate information exchange and joint operations. Thirty countries in the region are members. Last November, it was the then Brazilian Minister of Justice, Flávio Dino, today one of the 11 judges of the STF, who successfully promoted the signing of the so-called Treaty of Brasilia, which recognizes the international legal personality of Ameripol and guarantees a legal cooperation mechanism. The Brazilian police are studying the possibility of including Bolsonaro supporters who fled to Argentina also on Interpol’s red list.
Experts heard by Infobae They believe that an eventual extradition process could be long and complicated, with the risk of failure as happened last March with the Bolsonaro blogger Allan dos Santos, resident in the United States since 2020. Brazil had requested the extradition of dos Santos, over whom a preventive detention order from Judge Alexandre de Morães, on charges of slander and defamation for an investigation into fake news and the events of January 8. The US authorities did not grant it because they interpreted that the crimes for which dos Santos is accused in Brazil are crimes of opinion protected in the US by the right to freedom of expression.
Constitutional lawyer André Marsiglia, expert in freedom of expression and digital law, told Infobae that “extradition requires the consent of the Brazilian authorities and may suffer restrictions when there is a pending refugee application, as is the case for some of these people. That is, it is a legal request with political components that could make the solution last longer.” The Argentine justice system will first have to examine the request for refugee status, which it can only grant after also hearing the Brazilian government.
Brazilian magistrate Wálter Fanganiello Maierovitch, jurist and president of the Giovanni Falcone Association of Criminal Sciences, declared to Infobae that “the fugitives request, based on public international law, political asylum, something similar to that obtained by the Italian terrorist of the lead years Cesare Battisti in Lula’s government. They claim to be victims of political persecution. If they obtain asylum, the requested extradition will be compromised”.
Complicating the scenario is the fact that any extradition request will be made by Judge Alexandre de Moraes, of the Supreme Federal Court (STF), who has already been accused several times by the Bolsonaristas of political persecution against them. One point could make extradition impossible because the treaty between the two countries prohibits it in cases of crimes considered political “or related to this type of crime.” The interpretation of the crimes of the Bolsonaristas will depend, therefore, on the Argentine justice system, to consider them political and, therefore, at risk of persecution in Brazil, or against public order and, therefore, without an obstacle to extradition. The current agreement between Brazil and Argentina dates back to 1968. Subsequent agreements, in fact, have not entered into force. Neither the one prepared by Mercosur, not yet incorporated by Argentina, nor the update of the 1968 agreement made by the government of Jair Bolsonaro, not yet approved by the Brazilian Congress.
In the event that Brazil wants to proceed with the extradition request, the list that the Federal Police will prepare with the names of the fugitives will be transmitted to the STF, which will initiate the extradition request procedure that will then be sent to the Ministry of Justice. Specifically, the case will be evaluated by the Department of Asset Recovery and International Legal Cooperation (DRCI) which, in the event of a positive analysis, will transmit the formal request to Argentina through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It will then be up to an Argentine first instance judge to analyze Brazil’s request, as well as a possible request for arrest by the Brazilian justice system. Next, The judge’s decision will be sent to the Casa Rosada and the final decision will correspond to President Javier Milei. If Argentina rejects extradition, Brazil could appeal as a last resort to the International Criminal Court, which generally avoids interfering when there are bilateral agreements governing the dispute.
“However, there are many aspects to consider,” Maierovitch told Infobae. “First of all, the political and economic aspect. The Argentine president is right-wing, like the Bolsonaristas who fled, and Lula’s government is left-wing. But we must not forget that Argentina depends for its economy on business with Brazil, which is its largest importer. It must also be remembered that to date those who financed the coup attempt and the military have not yet gone to trial. The only ones punished so far have been the ‘maneuver masses’, the small fish. Finally, we must not forget that the Brazilian Parliament is debating a bill to grant amnesty to all those convicted of the events of January 8. This will benefit those who are still being investigated. And the amnesty, if approved, will make Bolsonaro eligible again,” Maerovitch said.
One of Bolsonaro’s sons, Eduardo, requested on May 30, during a visit to Buenos Aires to attend an event organized by La Libertad Avanza in Congress, political asylum for Brazilians accused of attempted coup d’état in the events on January 8. “I understand that the authorities of the two countries will need to find some intermediate solution to the case, so as not to hurt their political relationship, nor to fail to protect those people, who are being tried without the right to a double degree of jurisdiction, and collectively. , without individualized examination of their conduct, something incompatible with a fair process,” Marsiglia explained to Infobae.
Meanwhile, some of the Bolsonaristas who fled to Argentina were interviewed by the news site UOL in the Plaza de Mayo, in front of the Casa Rosada. This is the case of Luiz Fernández Venâncio, a salesman by profession. Last March, he managed to remove the electronic bracelet (anklet) and escape by bus. After crossing the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul he had arrived in Uruguay, where, however, the excessively high cost of living made him desist from staying. Thus, a friend from Córdoba advised him to go to Argentina. “Long live freedom Damn,” he declared in front of the camera. “They imposed precautionary measures on us, I couldn’t leave the house on weekends, I couldn’t leave the radius of my city. But I needed to work. And so I began to violate the precautionary measures until the revocation of my freedom was requested. My freedom is my life. Even if I have to leave Argentina, anywhere in the world, I am a free man and I will die free.” Fernández Venâncio wants to stay in Argentina and is already bringing his family. He sells bracelets and says he earns an average of 50,000 pesos a day, about 35 dollars at the parallel exchange rate.
Marco Siman Oliveira also fled southern Brazil. “We decided to come here because we are no longer certain that we will be declared innocent even if we are. We claim our rights but they are not recognized. Our lawyers cannot defend us. “We asked for asylum in this country because it was necessary.” Siman Oliveira, unemployed, said that he lives in a shelter that helps refugees, he ran out of the money he brought from Brazil after a month and reads the Bible when he gets up. “I like freedom, justice and wine in Argentina,” he added, hoping to stay there for a long time.
