Argentina's Javier Milei Visits Brazil to Endorse Flávio Bolsonaro's Presidential Bid

President of Argentina Javier Milei will travel to Brazil on Friday night to endorse Senator Flávio Bolsonaro in the upcoming October presidential election.

Brazil’s Liberal Party (PL) will hold its national convention this weekend in the city of São Paulo. Flávio Bolsonaro, the oldest son of conservative former President Jair Bolsonaro, is expected to be formally proclaimed the party’s candidate for the October election, running against radical leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva who is seeking a fourth term.

President Milei, a longtime friend of the Bolsonaros, will participate in the PL convention and give his endorsement to Sen. Bolsonaro, whom he previously met in Argentina in June. According to Argentina’s Todo Noticias, Milei will be accompanied in Brazil by his sister Karina Milei and Argentine Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno.

Prior to his participation at Saturday’s PL convention, Milei will reportedly meet with São Paulo’s pro-Bolsonaro governor Tarcísio de Freitas and be received with military honors. Per Argentine outlets, de Freitas will grant the Order of the Great Cross to Milei, the state’s highest consecration, and Milei and the governor will both speak briefly. Milei will then hold a private meeting with de Freitas and Flavio Bolsonaro.

Initially, the Argentine president intended to travel to Brasília on Friday to visit former President Jair Bolsonaro, who is currently serving a 27-year prison sentence for “crimes against democracy” in house arrest. Milei, however, will not be able to visit former President Bolsonaro after Brazilian Supreme Federal Tribunal (STF) Justice Alexandre de Moraes banned Bolsonaro from receiving any kind of “political-electoral” visits until after the October election — which, according to de Moraes, includes visits from a head of state. Argentine government sources told the newspaper La Nación on Thursday that de Moraes rejected a request to visit Bolsonaro issued via diplomatic channels.

De Moraes, arguably the most powerful judge in Brazil, revoked Bolsonaro’s visitation rights after his son Flávio revealed a handwritten letter signed by Jair Bolsonaro in which he called on his followers to support Sen. Bolsonaro in the race. De Moraes argued that the younger Bolsonaro’s actions violated the draconian social media restrictions he imposed on Jair Bolsonaro for his house arrest. Per the Brazilian justice’s orders, Jair Bolsonaro can only receive visits from members of his medical and legal teams.

Milei, who has publicly condemned Lula and his administration for the imprisonment of Jair Bolsonaro, reportedly has no plans to meet with the Brazilian president during his stay in Brazil.

According to Brazilian and international outlets, Milei’s upcoming endorsement of Flavio Bolsonaro at the PL convention is perceived as a “strengthening” or “reboot” of the Brazilian senator’s presidential bid after a series of scandals hit Bolsonaro’s campaign over the past months. Some of the scandals include allegations that a jailed Brazilian banker provided funding to Flavio Bolsonaro to produce a film based on Jair Bolsonaro’s political career, as well as an alleged feud between Flavio Bolsonaro and his stepmother, former First Lady Michelle Bolsonaro. Additionally, other conservative parties and politicians in Brazil have reportedly avoided expressing support for Flavio Bolsonaro over his father’s prison sentence.

Sen. Bolsonaro was “technically tied” with Lula according to polls published in late April. Polls published in mid-July affirmed that the Brazilian senator has been trailing in a prospective runoff scenario against the incumbent president. Conversely, the results of a survey published on Wednesday by the polling firm Gerp indicate that Flavio Bolsonaro and President Lula remain “technically tied.”

President Milei’s weekend visit to Brazil is part of a broader tour across Latin America that will see him travel to Peru, Ecuador, and Colombia. The Argentine president is scheduled to visit Lima on July 28 to participate in the inauguration of conservative President-elect Keiko Fujimori. Milei will then visit Quito to meet with Argentine President Daniel Noboa and will conclude his tour with an August 7 visit to Bogotá to attend the inauguration of conservative President-elect Abelardo de la Espriella.

Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.