SAO PAULO — A justice on Brazil’s Supreme Court has rejected a formal request from lawyers representing former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who sought to allow Argentine President Javier Milei to pay him a visit while he remains under house arrest.
The meeting had been planned for July 25 in Brazil’s capital city of Brasilia.
Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who also presided over the trial that resulted in Bolsonaro being sentenced to more than 27 years in prison for his role in a coup attempt, ruled against the visit. In his decision, Moraes pointed to an existing prohibition barring the former president from receiving any visitors for purposes described as “political-electoral in nature.”
Milei is expected to travel to Sao Paulo to attend a Liberal Party convention. That gathering will formally certify Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro — one of the former president’s sons — as the party’s candidate to challenge sitting President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
The relationship between Lula and Milei has been described as chilly. Lula has long been allied with political figures who are considered rivals of Milei, including former Argentine presidents Cristina Fernández and Alberto Fernández.
This is not the first time Moraes has blocked such a request. Back in March, he denied a similar appeal from U.S. State Department official Darren Beattie — a conservative author who served as undersecretary for public diplomacy and public affairs during the Trump administration — who had sought to visit Bolsonaro while he was still in prison.
