(Reuters) – The former president of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, is strategizing 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 late 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 facing criminal charges for allegedly plotting a coup, said in an interview with the Journal.
Bolsonaro 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, while Bolsonaro could not be immediately reached.
Earlier this week, Brazil’s 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.
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.
(Reporting by Bipasha Dey in Bengaluru; Editing by Ros Russell)
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