Italian Deputy Questions Citizenship of Bolsonaro Brothers

The Italian deputy Angelo Bonelli, of the Green Europe party, sent on Wednesday (28) a request for explanations to the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Interior of Italy on the Italian citizenships of Flavio, Eduardo and Carlos Bolsonaro. The questioning comes after Flávio Bolsonaro left Argentina for Estados Unidos using an Italian passport, after having the Brazilian document cancelled for failing to comply with a Federal Police order to deliver them.

According to the letter, to which RFI had access, the procedures for recognizing the citizenship of Flavio and Eduardo Bolsonaro were completed in about a year. The source did not detail the exact time of Carlos's trial.

Fast recognition in long queues

Flávio and Eduardo had Italian citizenship recognized in 2023, while Carlos received the recognition in 2024. The request was made on the basis of the principle of jus sanguinis – the right to citizenship by descent. The family reportedly presented as ancestor a great-grandfather of Jair Bolsonaro, originally from Veneto, northern Italy.

According to dates previously provided by the Italian government itself to Bonelli, the brothers reportedly made the request at the Italian Embassy in Brasilia nine days after Jair Bolsonaro lost the 2022 elections to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Although the maximum legal period for the completion of the process is 730 days, counted from the presentation of the complete documentation, the waiting for a summons to the consulate can reach ten years, amid the large volume of requests in Brazil, according to the interpellation.

Debate on citizenship and justice in Brazil

The case also widens the debate in Italy about those who resort to Italian citizenship while responding to justice in Brazil. This concern appears in Bonelli’s appeal, which mentions the investigations against Flávio Bolsonaro on suspicion of money laundering and irregularities linked to the financing of the film Dark Horse.

Another case that gained repercussion is that of Eduardo Tagliaferro, former adviser to the minister of Supremo Tribunal Federal Alexandre de Moraes. He is defendant on STF on charges related to the disclosure of classified messages and currently lives in Italy. Tagliaferro is not a politician, but his denunciations against Moraes have received broad support from bolsonaristas.

International repercussions of flight

The escape of Flávio Bolsonaro from Brazil and the letter he published on Wednesday night gained prominence in the Italian press and other European vehicles. In the first version, the senator declared himself “the true elected president.” Then he stepped back and began to define himself as “Brazil’s leader.”

The Italian Corriere della Sera reported that the US president, Donald Trump, after authorizing the entry of the senator and his family in the Estados Unidos, stated that he did not intend to get involved in the dispute over the Brazilian election. In the headline, the newspaper summed up: “Trump abandons him.”

The British Guardian drew attention to the different versions of the letter. One of them carried an old coat of arms, with the inscription “Estados Unidos do Brazil”, with Z – “what some saw as another sign of the subservience of the Bolsonaro clan to the Estados Unidos”, the newspaper wrote. The current official name of the country is “Federal Republic of Brazil”.

The Spanish newspaper El País highlighted the comparisons that Flavio made between his departure from Brazil and the trajectory of leaders who lived in exile, such as Charles de Gaulle, Rui Barbosa and José Martí.

Bonelli's request for explanations is still under consideration in Italian ministries. The source did not specify any deadlines for response. The Boca no Trombone Portal will continue to monitor the unfolding of the case.

Read Also

Trump reacts to Flávio Bolsonaro letter and avoids involvement

PF finds possible helps Flávio Bolsonaro to leave Brazil

Democrats create plan to confuse voters in Alaska

Font

g1.globo.com