Bolsonaro dynasty eyes comeback as Brazil’s socialist president faces challenge from jailed rival’s son

FIRST ON FOX: Eduardo Bolsonaro, son of the currently incarcerated former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, is a man on an unofficial diplomatic mission in the United States. His objective is to free his father, who is currently serving a 27-year sentence at the Federal Police headquarters in the nation's capital.

Convicted on charges of plotting a coup d'état, leading an armed criminal organization and attempting to violently abolish the democratic rule of law, Jair Bolsonaro remains a popular yet controversial figure in Brazil, and who still commands a devoted following nationwide, especially in the southern strongholds of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo.

Eduardo Bolsonaro has pursued a "maximum pressure campaign" against the current Brazilian regime on behalf of his father, lobbying the Trump administration for sanctions against the country, and for Magnitsky sanctions against the head of the Brazilian Supreme Court Alexandre de Moraes.

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In 2022, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva narrowly defeated incumbent Bolsonaro in the closest election since Brazil's 1985 return to democracy. This followed Lula's dramatic release from prison by the Brazilian Supreme Court in 2019, where he was serving a sentence for corruption.

While many expected São Paulo Governor Tarcisio de Freitas to run in 2026, he declined, clearing the way for the former president's other son, Sen. Flavio Bolsonaro, who declared his candidacy last December.

Speaking to Fox News Digital at the Hispanic Prosperity Gala at Mar-a-Lago Eduardo Bolsonaro discussed the present situation.

"A lot of polls are showing that my brother, Senator Flavio (Bolsonaro), is tied and some of them he's a little bit ahead… Flavio just launched, just announced that he is going to run. It was a big decision that Jair Bolsonaro took, recognizing that it would be impossible for him to run in the October election, for sure, because he's in jail now. Unfairly, but he is. This is a fact."

Eduardo Bolsonaro believes the nation's economic and security issues will propel his brother to victory.

"The strategy of Flavio is to show how bad the Lula administration is, mainly in economy and also in security. These are areas where Flavio is doing very well… everybody's fed up with Lula supporting Hamas, increasing criminality, and not doing a great job in the economic area. So, Flavio, for sure his focus is going to be on the economy and security to defeat Lula."

While Flavio Bolsonaro and Lula are clearly the top two contenders, several other right-wing and center-right candidates have entered the race, including Minas Gerais Governor Romeu Zema, Parana Governor Ratinho Junior and Goias Governor Ronaldo Caiado. 

Eduardo Bolsonaro dismisses concerns that the current electoral scenario could split the vote and lead to a first-round electoral victory for Lula.

"It doesn't matter who is going to the second round; against Lula, everybody will be together. Because we all know that the worst that can happen to the country is the re-election of Lula da Silva. So these polls that are trying to say that Lula… can win in the first round, if the right-wing movement splits the votes between these candidates, this is a lie. For sure, this is not going to happen."

"And for sure, it's very good that we have more candidates on the right-wing… Why? Because they will all criticize Lula da Silva. So, even Flavio is publicly saying that it would be a good thing to do to support more and more candidates for the right… against Lula."

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While former president Bolsonaro is incarcerated, his movement enjoys strong support in the Brazilian Congress, which recently passed legislation that would dramatically cut his prison sentence. 

However, Lula vetoed the legislation in January, which means that Congress may now seek to override that veto. Additionally, the Supreme Court, which is unfavorably disposed to Bolsonaro, may also review the legislation on grounds of constitutionality.

"Everything that the Supreme Court does not like, they say that this is against our constitution. It's the way that they try to get all of the power over the legislative [branch], and even sometimes the executive power. So, this is one more chapter of this long invasion by the judiciary… Lula da Silva doing the veto against this bill that was approved by the Congress only shows that he is always speaking with the left-wing bubble, he's talking to the radical left people."

Eduardo Bolsonaro believes the Brazilian people support his father over the Supreme Court, and points out that his father was not even present in Brazil for the Jan. 8 riots.

"In Brazil they do not approve [of the veto], they are fed up with all of this… On the very same day [Jan. 8, 2023]… the ‘protest dictator’, Jair Bolsonaro, was in Orlando, in Disney World. So everybody knows this is a fake thing and no one can support any more debates around this."

"That's why Jair Bolsonaro is in jail because if he wasn't convicted to 27 years in jail, he would be free to run, and for sure he would be the next president of Brazil. That's the only reason that he is in jail: because of political reasons. That is why when Flavio Bolsonaro gets elected in October and changes the political scenario, this will also change the scenario inside the judiciary of Brazil."

Eduardo Bolsonaro is entirely focused on his brother Flavio's 2026 presidential campaign as the means to freeing his father from prison.

"Now, I only have one role… electing Flávio Bolsonaro, and he will give the pardon to Jair. Not only to Jair, but also to me. I am accused of committing crimes in the United States because I was talking with authorities, American authorities, and they consider this an attack against the sovereignty of Brazil."

"The judge of the Supreme Court, Alexandre de Moraes, who got sanctioned by the Trump administration with the support of Scott Bessent and Marco Rubio, he blames me for that. But as he does not have the courage to sue Trump, Bessent and Rubio, he's suing me for that. So we hope that Flavio is going to get elected and then as president he has the power to pardon me, my father and more than 400 conservative people that are in jail."

While the Bolsonaros have historically performed very well in the vote-rich and wealthy southern states of Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Minas Gerais, they have underperformed in Brazil's poorer Northeast region, which is where Lula is originally from.

Yet, Bolsonaro promises a strong showing nationwide, and says that voters in the Northeast are ready for a change:

"It's bringing the truth. People nowadays know that the ‘assistencialismo’ (populist social assistance for purposes of vote-buying), that is the way that Lula gets this high amount of votes in the Northeast of Brazil."

"We are also going strong in the Northeast. The Northeast, you're going to see, it's not anymore a region of Brazil that is under the [control of] Lula."

Eduardo Bolsonaro weighed in on recent U.S. military action in Venezuela, and pledged a renewed U.S.-Brazilian geopolitical relationship, and full support for American action against Communist regimes:

"Maduro is not the president anymore and in Nicaragua Daniel Ortega arrested seven opponents… that were running for president. How can you consider this a democracy? So, for sure, it's not a democracy. There is no difference between these guys and Chapo or Pablo Escobar. The difference is only that Nicolás Maduro and Daniel Ortega took over the country, they took over the institutions."

"So everybody, not only Venezuela, but also Brazil, is really happy that the great military of the United States arrested Maduro… It's bringing hope to the people. And for sure, we do support them, not only in public… but also in international forums."

This interview was lightly edited for style and clarity.