Jair Bolsonaro arrives back in Brazil where he faces several investigations
Mr Bolsonaro left Brazil after losing the country's presidential election in October and later claimed the electoral system was open to fraud.
Thursday 30 March 2023 15:20, UK
Former president Jair Bolsonaro has arrived back in Brazil where he is facing several investigations - including over his alleged role in encouraging protests that ended with his supporters storming several government buildings.
The 68-year-old former far-right president had been in self-imposed exile in Florida for three months but has now returned to Brazil for the first time since leaving office.
He is aiming to lead right-wing opposition to leftist president Lula da Silva, who defeated him in October's election.
Hundreds of Bolsonaro supporters were dressed in yellow and green and chanted for him as they waited in the capital city of Brasilia on Thursday.
The federal district's security secretariat mobilised hundreds of police officers and the Esplanade of Ministries, where government buildings are based, was closed to prevent gatherings of his supporters.
The storming of government buildings in January, which was compared to the 2021 riots at the US Capitol, followed weeks of demonstrations over Mr Bolsonaro's defeat to Mr da Silva.
The former president claimed the election result was not legitimate and is accused of encouraging the rioters to target government buildings.
Mr da Silva, who previously served as president from 2003 to 2011, won the election with 50.9% of the votes.
Mr Bolsonaro subsequently left Brazil just before the end of his presidential term, breaking with tradition by declining to hand the presidential sash to his successor.
The former president is being investigated over an alleged attempt to import and keep gifts of jewellery from Saudi Arabia valued at $3.2m (£2.6m) that were seized by customs officials in 2021 because they had not been declared.
Mr Bolsonaro is also facing legal challenges for anti-democratic statements he made while president, including several unfounded claims that the electoral system was open to fraud.
If he is found guilty in any of those cases, he would lose his political rights and be unable to run for office in the next election.
Read more:
Brazil riots - how the storming of Congress unfolded
While in the US, Mr Bolsonaro mostly kept a low profile, although he delivered several speeches to Brazilian expatriates and conservatives, including at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Maryland.
The legislator-turned-president is currently not holding elected office for the first time in 30 years.
"I'm without a mandate, but I'm not retired," he told Brazilian television network Jovem Pan on Monday.
His return to Brazil has been repeatedly delayed, and some had speculated he could postpone indefinitely in light of his legal troubles.
Steve Bannon, a long-time ally of Donald Trump and considered a strategist of the global far-right, told Brazilian newspaper Folha de S.Paulo this week that Mr Bolsonaro should never have left the country, and dismissed the importance of the investigations.
Mr Bolsonaro's first objective will be to rally opposition to Mr da Silva's government, said Mayra Goulart da Silva, a political scientist from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro.
Next year's municipal elections are an important step toward gaining political momentum for a possible 2026 presidential run.
Mr Bolsonaro is expected to throw his support behind his Liberal Party's mayoral candidates.