MIAMI — A day after supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro stormed government buildings in Brazil, Vitor Spier, who lives in Orlando, Florida, condemned the violence in his home country.
But Spier, a Bolsonaro supporter who believes Brazil’s recent election was fraudulent, said he was “expecting” some response from the former president’s supporters.
“We don’t believe he won by the will of the people,” Spier said, referring to new President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, also known as Lula.
Spier's view echoes what Bolsonaro and many of his allies have said since losing the contentious Oct. 30 presidential runoff, claiming voter fraud and rigged elections.
The expectation of violence in their home country was shared by Brazilian Americans who oppose Bolsonaro.
“This is not a surprise to anyone,” said Alinio Azevedo, a Brazilian who lives in Aspen, Colorado. “Bolsonaro has been talking about this for months. ... It was totally avoidable.”
Now, Bolsonaro is in Orlando, where he has supporters among the state's growing number of Brazilian Americans. Florida is home to a large number of Latin American expats, including many who support center-right politics and have gravitated to the Republican party — which has cultivated this growing voting bloc.
Florida is a permissive environment, particularly for the former president, said Eric Farnsworth a vice president at the Council of the Americas and Americas Society. “It’s a very common location where Latin Americans are...
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