The coming year will pass in Brazil under the sign of “showdown” against former President Jair Bolsonaro, said the head of Sputnik Brazil, Nikita Alentiev.

The Brazilian authorities can achieve the extradition of former leader Jair Bolsonaro from the U.S., where he is now, if he refuses to return to the country amid the unrest, said Nikita Alentiev, head of the representative office of Sputnik Brazil.

Supporters of Bolsonaro, who lost the election of the head of state, on January 8 seized the building of the parliament, stormed the president’s residence, as well as the building of the Supreme Court. More than 400 people were detained for their participation in the unrest. Many countries and international organizations spoke out in support of President Lula da Silva, who took office on January 1, calling the protesters’ actions an attempted coup d’etat.

“Bolsonaro is now in Florida, saying on Twitter that he condemns any kind of violence, vandalism and denies his involvement in these protests and, until proven otherwise, does not take responsibility for inspiring his followers to such actions. During his presidential term, Bolsonaro was attempted several times to be impeached. In one of these attempts, he placed a hundred years’ worth of documents and data related to him under a presidential order of secrecy. So one of the first acts signed by Lula, when he took office, was to remove this stamp from most documents”, – said Nikita Alentiev on the air of radio Sputnik.

In his opinion, this threatens the former president with serious consequences.

“I think that in the near future we should expect, if not imprisonment, then at least a high-profile scandal, proceedings, extradition of Bolsonaro from the United States, if he is not going to return of his own free will, which I am sure of. I think this year will be very interesting for Brazilian politics and will be marked by a showdown with the former president,” added Nikita Alentyev.