Desperately…

…seeking democracy?
As you Dear Readers are no doubt aware, Flávio Bolsonaro – the man who would be President of Brazil! – and his wife are now ensconced in the bosom of Florida’s gusano industrial complex!! Having first fled across Brazil’s southern border into Argentina, where he and his family boarded a charter plane for Miami – with a brief refuelling in Daniel Noboa’s Ecuador!! Once on US soil, the Bolsonaros were quickly granted US Visas by the US Administration!!

One of Flávio’s first acts was to publish a letter in which he proclaimed himself the “true president elect” of Brazil. Its letterhead was a coat of arms with the words, “the United States of Brazil”, which was the official name of Brazil – from 1889 to 1967!! Perhaps Flávio and his stateside handlers had got AI to do the letterhead, and it had got things a little mixed up!!

The weird thing, however, was that the name “Brazil” is spelt with a “z” rather than with the native “s” – Brasil – which not surprisingly prompted speculation that the letter was actually written by an English Gringo, rather than Bolsonaro himself!! Given where the letter was written, that’s probably a fair assumption, innit?? Like so many failed Latin American politicians and coup leaders before him, Flávio may have found a sunny bolthole in Florida – alongside his brother Eduardo – but this world is not big enough for two Juan Guaidós!! Remember him??
One of the few people who apparently beg to differ is Flávio himself – since in the letter (which he apparently didn’t write himself) it compares his political exile to those of Charles de Gaulle, who led the French resistance in WW2 from London; José Martí, the Cuban politician, diplomat, poet, essayist, Journalist and philosopher who helped liberate Cuba as an emigré in New York and died fighting for his country; and more recent “Venezuelan opposition leaders”…!!
That said, it’s no surprise to your Eyewitness that Flávio made such a quick exit after his defeat to Lula on Sunday!! Having failed to secure the presidency, he lost the judicial immunity he’d enjoyed as a long-standing member of Brazil’s Congress!! Given he faces three separate Supreme Court inquiries involving money laundering, currency evasion, and corruption, this was a bit ticklish!! For the past 22 months, hundreds of thousands of legal immigrants in the US have been stripped of their legal status, and deported. Now suddenly here’s an illegal immigrant arriving at the airport without the right papers – and what do the ICE agents do?
They used umbrellas to help shield his identity from the Journalists awaiting his arrival as they ushered him and his family into a waiting vehicle!!
The contrast couldn’t be starker!!

…seeking relevance
Taking the opportunity to make hay while the (King Charles) sun shone in dear ole Mudland, Fried Chicken Man – appointed by PNC leader “Bam Bam Alley” Norton as their parliamentary (truncated) leader – showed up with a placard demanding Charles deliver reparations for the sins of his ancestors – king and country and all that!!
He explained to a reporter: “Guyana was a British Colony, and we would have suffered slavery under the Dutch but MAINLY under the British, and then British Colonial rule until 1966. And in relation to Guyana the greatest debt owed to this country in terms of reparation, is probably from the British, and who better to try to get the message to than King Charles III. So, that was the main reason we were out here”!!
He needs to get a briefing on our history: the Dutch has slaves from 1621 to 1812 – which is a tad longer that the Brits, 1812 to 1838!!
From then to 1966, while they ruled us, it wasn’t as slaves!!

…seeking support
Your Eyewitness was pleasantly surprised to see several American universities coming down here to recruit Guyanese students – to be “educated” on their grassy quadrangles!!
Remember when that was one way we would sneak in to “stay”!!??