Two Bolsonaro supporters describe what it was like to flee Argentina to request political asylum

The setting in which the video was recorded does not seem accidental. The two men are in the Plaza de Mayo, with the Casa Rosada in the background, and behind them you can see how two members of the Military House proceed to remove the huge Argentine flag that was there. The Brazilian portal UOL published photos of two citizens of the country involved in the attack last weekend by supporters of former president Jair Bolsonaro, who attacked the Planalto Palace, the government’s headquarters in Brasilia, on January 8, and are now wanted by justice. They are part of more than 65 people who fled to Argentina and some of them requested political asylum from the government of Javier Mieli.

Asylum requests must be processed before the Argentine National Refugee Commission (CONARE) The list of those who have requested this has not been revealed yet. A few days ago, Julio Glintarnic Bitelli, the Brazilian ambassador in Buenos Aires, released through an official letter issued by the Federal Supreme Court of the neighboring country a list of 143 people who were blamed for the riot. Once the Argentine government responds, the administration of Lula da Silva Can request the extradition of the accused.

This was announced by Argentina’s Security Minister Patricia Bullrich in an interview with the radio Mitre As the case came to a head last week, Brazil did not know the whereabouts of the fugitives and had not received any formal extradition request. The current agreement between Brazil and Argentina was agreed in 1968.

In the video, Luiz Fernandes Venancio, a man of about 50 years old, identifies himself as a street vendor. He starts shouting the typical Miley slogan (“Long live the fucking freedom”) He says he fled to Uruguay by land after the electronic anklet he was wearing broke Monitoring it. And then he contacted a friend who lives in Córdoba to come to our country. He says he requested a judicial review of his case and was prevented from leaving his house on weekends and moving within a limited radius the rest of the day. “I am a free man and will die free,” he says. “I needed to work. Thus I began to violate precautionary measures until my freedom was requested to be revoked,” he admits.

Fernandes Venancio confirmed that he is living in the Recoleta neighborhood, that he wants to be an “entrepreneur” and that he sells bracelets on the street to earn income. Who else is interested “Swimming Across the Ocean” To protect their freedom.

The other young man with a pink jacket and a white scarf is Marco Simon Oliveira. He admits that he fled through the south of Brazil and that no one asked him for documents when entering our territory. That he stayed in a place that welcomes refugees and that although at the beginning he covered his expenses with the money he saved, he now goes to a parish to eat dinner at night. “We are not sure we will be declared innocent, even if we are innocent. We feel we cannot prove our innocence, so it was necessary to request asylum here.”, he assures.

The Brazilian Federal Police targets crimes of “violent overthrow of the democratic rule of law, coup d’état, qualified damage, criminal collaboration, incitement to a crime, destruction and degradation or disabling of specially protected property”.

The vice president during Bolsonaro’s administration, Hamilton Mourao, now a senator, posted on his social network account X last Tuesday, June 11, a request for asylum for those involved. “Departure to Argentina of those accused and investigated for the acts of January 8 This only shows that these people no longer have faith in Brazilian justicewhich has denied them basic due process rights and handed down sentences disproportionate to the crimes they allegedly committed,” he wrote.

“The international occupation sought by the current government clearly shows the authoritarian and persecutory bias of the left in power. May Miley and the National Refugee Commission (CONARE) grant them impartial political asylum,” he said.

In late May, Bolsonaro’s son, Eduardo, gave a speech in the Chamber of Deputies, invited by La Libertad Avanza deputy, María Celeste Ponce from Córdoba, in which he asked for asylum for the accused who had fled Argentina.

This Friday, Parlasur parliamentarians from both Argentina and Brazil sent a letter to Patricia Bullrich, asking her to report on the possible illegal entry into the country of more than 65 fugitives accused of the coup attempt in Brazil.

In the letter they requested “reliable information on the status of a group of Brazilian citizens accused of the coup attempt that took place on January 8, 2023 in the Federative Republic of Brazil, who had illegally entered the Argentine Republic.”

In this sense, Senator Humberto Costa, member of the Social Affairs Commission, said: “This is a very important consultation between the members of Parlasur and the Argentine government. Our countries are part of a bloc and it is important that, in accordance with the treaties and within the framework of judicial cooperation, they can provide each other with accurate information. Especially when it comes to fugitives from justice involved in the coup attempt.”

Argentine MP Gabriel Fuchs said: “What we are asking Minister Bullrich for is the ratification of information on the entry of more than 100 people prosecuted in Brazil for last year’s coup attempt. In particular, our concern is that there has been some kind of local coordination in this, given Eduardo Bolsonaro’s statements and his presence in Argentina.

The note was sent with the signature of parliamentarians from the Brazilian PT’s Unión por la Patria y por Costa. Members of the Mercosur parliament asked former presidential candidate and current Argentine security minister, Patricia Bullrich, if there were “records of the defendants’ admission or presence.”