Brazil court blocks Milei visit to Bolsonaro under wider visit ban

Brazil's top court denied a request by Argentine President Javier Milei to visit former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, who is under house arrest.

Milei is expected to attend the Liberal Party convention in Sao Paulo on July 25. Bolsonaro's son Flavio, a senator, is expected to be named the conservative movement's candidate for the October elections at that event.

Bolsonaro's lawyers had asked for Milei to be allowed to see him during the visit. Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes had banned all visits to the former president for 30 days late Friday, saying the measure was punishment for the publication of a letter transmitted by Bolsonaro's son. The court said that violated a ban on Bolsonaro using social media, including through other people.

Moraes said Saturday that Milei's request was moot because of the wider ban. Doctors, physical therapists and Bolsonaro's lawyers may still visit Bolsonaro.

Bolsonaro, 71, is serving a 27-year sentence for plotting a coup to overturn the result of the 2022 election, which he lost to President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. He is barred from public office, though he is appealing. He was moved to house arrest in March for health reasons.

Moraes also said Bolsonaro cannot receive visits for political or electoral purposes until after the elections and cannot spread political messages.

Flavio Bolsonaro, who was earlier barred from seeing his father for 90 days or until after the election's first round, has criticized Moraes and called his decisions politically motivated. The visit request also included Argentine Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno, Milei's sister Karina, who serves in his government, and a translator.

Milei and Bolsonaro have presented themselves since 2023 as ideological allies in Latin America's new political right. Relations between Lula and Milei are less friendly.

Bolsonaro's attorney Joao Henrique de Freitas questioned what he called the motivation and proportionality of the rulings on X, saying Brazil deserved transparency. In the October election, Flavio Bolsonaro is expected to face Lula, who is seeking reelection.