The former Brazilian president, Jair Bolsonaro, who is in prison for sedition and will undergo surgery for a bilateral hernia this Thursday, reaffirmed his eldest son, Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, as his candidate for Brazil's 2026 presidential elections.
«In the face of this injustice, and with the commitment of not allowing the popular will to be silenced, I take the decision to name Flávio Bolsonaro as a pre-candidate for the Presidency of the Republic in 2026,» said the far-right leader in a letter written in his own hand during his confinement.
It was Flávio himself who read the letter at the entrance of the private hospital in Brasília where his father will go under the knife this Thursday, Christmas Day, to correct a bilateral inguinal hernia.
The retired Army captain, who is serving a 27-year prison sentence for attempting a coup, stated that his son Flávio represents the continuation of «the path to prosperity,» which in his view began when he himself was in power between 2019 and 2022.
Titled ‘Letter to the Brazilians’ and written with blue ink, the letter aims to settle doubts about Flávio's candidacy for the October 2026 elections.
The senator had already announced on December 5 that his father, also disqualified, had designated him as his political heir.
However, Flávio later suggested he might withdraw his name from the race in exchange for the «right price,» which, in his opinion, would be an unlikely amnesty that would free his father from prison and allow him to run as a presidential candidate in 2026.
In the letter, Jair Bolsonaro states that appointing his son as his successor is «a conscious, legitimate decision, supported by the desire to preserve the representation of those who trusted» in him.
«I believe we need to retake the responsibility of leading Brazil with justice, firmness, and loyalty to the aspirations of the Brazilian people,» Bolsonaro expressed, who on September 11 was convicted by the Supreme Court for «leading» a coup plot after losing the 2022 elections to the current president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Lula has already announced he will run for re-election, and for now, polls place him at the forefront of the presidential race, with a double-digit lead over potential rivals from the right-wing spectrum, including Flávio Bolsonaro.
