November 22nd, 2025 - Brazil Arrests Jair Bolsonaro Amid Fears He Might Flee House Arrest

Brazilian authorities arrested former President Jair Bolsonaro on Saturday, citing fears that he was preparing to flee house arrest and evade the 27-year prison sentence he faces for plotting a failed coup. Bolsonaro, who governed Brazil from 2019 to 2022, was convicted in September of orchestrating a plan to stay in power after losing his re-election bid. Since August, he had been confined to his home in Brasília with an electronic ankle monitor, which the Supreme Court viewed as necessary because he posed a flight risk.

Although Bolsonaro had not yet begun serving his sentence — his appeals were still under review — federal police detained him early Saturday morning. According to a senior police official, the arrest was meant to maintain public order and protect Bolsonaro himself ahead of a rally planned by his supporters outside his home. A Supreme Court order authorizing the arrest stated that shortly after midnight, Bolsonaro’s ankle monitor showed signs of tampering, indicating he intended to break it and escape during the chaos of the coming demonstration.

Bolsonaro’s legal team did not immediately comment. The attempted tampering echoed earlier concerns: In August, police said they discovered documents suggesting Bolsonaro had considered seeking asylum in Argentina last year, just after authorities seized his passport and arrested several close allies. Around that same time, Bolsonaro spent two nights inside the Hungarian Embassy in Brasília, seemingly seeking refuge under the protection of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, though he refused to explain the visit.

His arrest comes just days before the Supreme Court was expected to order him to begin serving his sentence. Bolsonaro’s lawyers had requested that he be allowed to serve it under house arrest, citing chronic health problems stemming from a stabbing during the 2018 campaign. The court had not yet ruled on that appeal.

Bolsonaro’s conviction was built on extensive evidence showing that he and his advisers spent months spreading baseless doubts about Brazil’s election system. After losing to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, he and his allies developed plans to overturn the vote, dismantle the Supreme Court, and empower the military to keep him in office. Prosecutors said the group also discussed assassinating political opponents, including Mr. Lula and a Supreme Court justice overseeing several investigations into Bolsonaro.

Ultimately, Bolsonaro was found guilty of staging a coup attempt, undermining democratic institutions, and participating in an armed criminal organization, among other charges. He has continued to deny wrongdoing, insisting he sought only lawful ways to contest what he still falsely describes as a fraudulent election — a claim Brazil’s military itself found no evidence to support.

Word of the Day (Merriam-Webster) - Metonymy (noun, muh-TAH-nuh-mee) - Metonymy refers to a figure of speech in which a word that is associated with something is used to refer to the thing itself, as when crown is used to mean “king” or “queen.”

Example: Wall Street, Silicon Valley, and Hollywood are common examples of metonymy.

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