Following reports of his detention by Brazilian police, former Trump spokesman Jason Miller issued a statement saying that he had been questioned by law enforcement for three hours at the airport in the capital of Brasilia.
“This afternoon my travelling party was questioned for three hours at the airport in Brasilia, after having attended this weekend’s CPAC Brasil Conference,” Mr Miller said in a statement obtained by The New York Times.
“We were not accused of any wrongdoing, and told only that they ‘wanted to talk’. We informed them that we had nothing to say and were eventually released to fly back to the United States. Our goal of sharing free speech around the world continues!”
A group of world leaders has warned that Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro may be plotting a military coup that could “endanger democracy in Brazil”.
In an open letter, some 150 parliamentarians, ministers, and ex-presidents from 26 countries sounded an alarm about a potential insurrection on 7 September, modelled after the “stop the steal” uprising at the US Capitol in January.
The letter says: “Right now, President Jair Bolsonaro and his allies – including white supremacist groups, military police, and public officials at every level of government – are preparing a nation-wide march against the Supreme Court and Congress on 7 September, stoking fears of a coup in the world’s third-largest democracy.”
It details the ways in which the world leaders – including Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, the former prime minister of Spain, and Fernando Lugo, the former president of Paraguay – claim Mr Bolsonaro has undermined democratic institutions in recent weeks.
“On 10 August, he directed an unprecedented military parade through the capital city of Brasilia, as his allies in Congress pushed for sweeping reforms to the country’s electoral system, widely considered to be one of the most trustworthy in the world.”