When the world gets closer.

We help you see farther.

Sign up to our expressly international daily newsletter.

Already a subscriber? Log in .

You've reached your limit of one free article.

Get unlimited access to Worldcrunch

You can cancel anytime .

SUBSCRIBERS BENEFITS

Exclusive International news coverage

Ad-free experience NEW

Weekly digital Magazine NEW

9 daily & weekly Newsletters

Access to Worldcrunch archives

Free trial

30-days free access, then $2.90
per month.

Annual Access BEST VALUE

$19.90 per year, save $14.90 compared to monthly billing.save $14.90.

Subscribe to Worldcrunch
InterNations
Geopolitics

Will Bolsonaro And Family Flee To Italy?

With risks of arrest rising after the violence in Brasilia, many wonder if the former Brazilian president and his family will seek refuge in Italy, where they would qualify for citizenship and a friendly government is in charge.

photo of Bolsonaro dressed in black

Bolsonaro at a rally in August

Edson De Souza/TheNEWS2 via ZUMA
Ginevra Falciani

Days after their father’s election loss, Senator Flavio Bolsonaro and his younger brother Eduardo were spotted at the entrance of the Italian embassy in Brasilia.

“I have no intention of leaving Brazil,” the Senator and eldest son of President Jair Bolsonaro insisted to the journalist of Brazilian weekly magazine Metropoles, who’d seen the brothers arriving at the embassy.

“My family has Italian origins and I have the right to apply for Italian citizenship. This procedure started in September 2019,” the 38-year-old Bolsonaro added.

That was November, nine days after Jair Bolsonaro’s defeat by Lula da Silva, but well before their father took refuge in Florida — and the events of Sunday, where Bolsonaro supporters assaulted the nation’s top institutions in the capital, leading to mass arrests.

Questions are circulating in Italy and Brazil about whether the Bolsonaro family (he has five children from three marriages) is considering seeking asylum in Italy, which they not only claim ancestral connections but also now has a friendly right-wing government in charge, headed by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. "Italian Citizenship to Bolsonaro: Here's What Could Happen," headlined Milan daily Il Sole 24 Ore this week.


For his part, former President Bolsonaro is still in Florida, where he entered using his now-expired diplomatic passport. It is unclear how long he is intending to remain there, but this might have to do with the loss of his presidential immunity, which now exposes him to criminal and electoral investigations in Brazil that could lead to his arrest.

Meloni and Salvini, old friends

Currently, no warrant has been issued against him, but this could almost entirely be dependent on the fact that Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes is waiting for the former president to return to Brazil, as extraditing someone for political reasons from the U.S. is not easy. Indeed, speculation about his family’s interest in Italy also stems from the fact that Rome’s extradition agreement with Brazil does not apply to politically motivated crimes.

Meloni, and her vice premier Matteo Salvini are long-time allies of the Bolsonaro family, and Eduardo Bolsonaro was among the first to personally congratulate her on the day of her victory.

On Sunday night, Meloni condemned the storming of key government buildings in Brasilia, but she has yet to state publicly that these actions were committed by Bolsonaro’s supporters.

Photo of Jair Bolsonaro with sons, Carlos, Fl\u00e1vio and Eduardo in 2015

Jair Bolsonaro with sons, Carlos, Flávio and Eduardo in 2015

Bolsonaro family Flickr

Northern roots

Facing growing queries from the Brazilian media about the possibility of the Bolsonaro family seeking asylum in Italy, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani issued a statement denying that Bolsonaro had requested citizenship, while confirming that the procedure opened by two of his children was still being processed.

The Bolsonaro family has all the requirements to receive Italian citizenship under a longstanding law that if you can prove to have an Italian ancestor (and that none of their offspring has legally renounced citizenship) you can rather easily gain a passport. It was applied often in the past for foreign soccer stars, including plenty from Brazil, who wanted to play in Italy’s top soccer league, which used to have limits on foreign players.

It’s also worth noting that Jair Bolsonaro is already an honorary citizen of the municipality of Anguillara Veneta, a small town in northeastern Italy from where his ancestors left for Brazil in the 19th century and where he traveled in 2021 for the handover ceremony. This title has no legal value, but could speed up the process of obtaining Italian citizenship.

After Sunday’s events in Brasilia, the Il Gazzettino daily reported that several opposition politicians in Anguillara Veneta demanded that the mayor strip Bolsonaro of his honorary citizenship, which she refused to do. Yes, she’s an ally of Meloni.

You've reached your limit of free articles.

To read the full story, start your free trial today.

Get unlimited access. Cancel anytime.

Exclusive coverage from the world's top sources, in English for the first time.

Insights from the widest range of perspectives, languages and countries.

Society

For Seniors, Friendship May Be More Important Than Family

Even if the aging and elderly tend to wind up confined to family circles, Argentine academics Laura Belli and Danila Suárez explore the often untapped benefits of friendship in our later years.

Photograph of two elderly women and an elderly man walking arm in arm. Behind the, there are adverts for famous football players.

Two elderly women and a man walk arm in arm

Philippe Leone/Unsplash
Laura F. Belli and Danila Suárez Tomé

Updated Dec. 10, 2023 at 10:10 p.m.

BUENOS AIRES — What kind of friendship do people most talk about? Most often it is childhood or teenage friendships, while friendships between men and women are repeatedly analyzed. What about friendships among the elderly? How are they affected when friends disappear, at a stage when grieving is already more frequent?

Argentines Laura Belli and Danila Suárez Tomé, two friends with PhDs in philosophy, explore the challenges and benefits of friendship in their book Filosofía de la amistad (Friendship Philosophy).

For the latest news & views from every corner of the world, Worldcrunch Today is the only truly international newsletter. Sign up here.

They consider how friendships can emerge later in life, in profoundly altered circumstances from those of our youth, with people living through events like retirement, widowhood, reduced autonomy or to a greater or lesser degree, personal deterioration. All these can affect older people's ability to form and keep friendships, even if changes happen at any stage in life.

Filosofía de la amistadexplores the place of friendships amid daunting changes. These are not just the result of ageing itself but also of how one is perceived, nor will they affect everyone exactly the same way. Aging has firstly become a far more diverse experience, with increasing lifespans and better healthcare everywhere, and despite an inevitable restriction in life opportunities, a good many seniors enjoy far greater freedom and life choices than before.

Keep reading...Show less

The latest