Argentina grants political asylum to pro-Bolsonaro coup rioter

The Argentine government has granted asylum to a Brazilian fugitive who was convicted for his role in the 2023 coup attempt in his home country and fled to Argentina. Contacted by the Herald for comment, a source from the Brazilian government called the decision an attempt by the Milei administration to interfere in the upcoming presidential elections, scheduled for October 4, 2026. Following Jair Bolsonaros defeat in the 2022 presidential elections, a mob of his supporters attacked three federal government buildings in Brasilia to protest the newly elected President Lula Da Silva.  Brazils Supreme Court Justice and electoral authority Alexandre de Moraes considered the attack part of a plot that would ultimately end with a coup. The Brazilian judiciary has already convicted hundreds of people involved in the riots for crimes ranging from vandalism to insurrection, including Bolsonaro himself, who is still in prison. Some of those accused and convicted fled to Argentina after Bolsonaro ally and current President Javier Milei took office in December 2023. More than 100 applied for political asylum. Six were arrested in 2024, and an Argentine court ordered their extradition in late 2025 at Brazils request, following orders by Supreme Court justice Alexandre de Moraes. Asylum granted On Tuesday, the National Refugee Commission (CONARE) granted asylum to one of them, Joel Borges Correa, a 47-year-old truck driver who was sentenced in Brazil to 13 years and six months in prison. In its resolution, which the Herald has seen, the CONARE said that Borges Correa is being persecuted for his political opinions. Neither [Borges Correas] account nor the [Brazilian] Superior Court of Justice’s ruling suggests that he had any connection to or knowledge of a plan to attempt a coup against Lula’s government, the CONARE resolution said, nor is there any evidence that his presence at the January 8 demonstration was a relevant element in the criminal plan. It can therefore be inferred that the persecution feared by the applicant is clearly related to the attribution of a specific political opinion, deduced from his presence at the march to the Plaza de los Tres Poderes on January 8, 2023, it concluded.