Bolsonaro comes to Florida to avoid inauguration. The autocrat will fit right in | Opinion

What a weird choice, right? Brazil’s departing, far-right President Jair Bolsonaro sought refuge in, of all places, a rented house in Orlando — and then went out to eat at a local KFC — instead of handing over the presidential sash in a symbolic peaceful transition of power last weekend to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who was returning to Brazil’s highest office.

But, on second thought, it makes perfect sense. For Bolsonaro, what’s not to like about the Sunshine State? Florida is where Donald Trump lives, making this the perfect place for someone whose nickname is “the Trump of the Tropics.” And Bolsonaro, like Trump, looks like he may face charges related to his presidency. Misery loves company, after all.

Plus, Florida is where Gov. Ron DeSantis was recently reelected, a leader whose autocratic tendencies might make Bolsonaro feel right at home.

No more immunity

People with something to hide have long flourished in Florida. It’s where suspected Venezualan kleptocrats have tried to hide their loot in luxury condos and exotic cars for years. Sunny Isles Beach is nicknamed “Little Moscow” in part because of the flow of Russian money into residential property there, something that has drawn the attention of financial regulators.

In the 2018 “Panama Papers” investigation, the Miami Herald found 19 foreign nationals creating offshore companies and buying Miami real estate, with eight of them linked to bribery, corruption, embezzlement, tax evasion or other misdeeds in their home countries. Way back in 1979, deposed Nicaraguan President Anastasio Somoza chose Florida for a brief stay, defiantly flying into Miami on a jet and then taking a Cadillac to his Sunset Island mansion.

Bolsonaro reportedly plans to stay for at least a month. Now that he’s no longer president, he loses his immunity from prosecution. (There’s a familiar ring to that.) The New York Times said Bolsonaro has been linked to five investigations, including an attack on Brazil’s voting machines, and another into his connections to groups releasing misinformation on his behalf. Certainly, Bolsonaro sowed doubts about the reliability of election results by making baseless claims, just as Trump did. It’s a line straight from the MAGA playbook.

From what Brazil’s new president said as he took office, Bolsonaro may have good reason to worry. While saying that the country has “no intention of revenge against those who tried to subjugate the nation to their personal and ideological plans,” Lula also promised that, “Those who have done wrong will answer for their mistakes.” That sounds like prosecution in the offing — and living in Florida, or the United States isn’t likely to offer any protection for Bolsonaro if it comes to that.

Dismissive gesture

Lula, it should be noted, has had his own issues, going to prison for corruption only to see the charges dropped and then, three years later, being reelected as president in the closest such election in Brazil’s history.

But that’s why Bolsonaro’s flight to Florida is more than just a disrespectful gesture. Passing the presidential sash is a vote of confidence in Brazil’s democracy, where a military dictatorship that took personal freedoms away and tortured and killed dissidents ended less than 40 years ago. It’s an important acknowledgment.

Bolsonaro taking selfies with his new neighbors and then eating fried chicken out of a box at a fast-food restaurant is a spectacle, sure. More significantly, though, it’s a continuation of his damaging refusal to publicly acknowledge Lula’s victory. If we’ve learned anything from Trump’s defeat and the Jan. 6 attack on our Capitol, it’s that the refusal to acknowledge the loss of a fair election is a dangerous thing for democracy.