On Wednesday evening, conservative businesspeople, digital influencers, and US government officials flocked to the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium in Washington, DC, for the Latino Wall Street-organized inaugural Hispanic Heritage Gala.
asserted
businesspeople → flock → Gala
The event’s guest of honor was Javier Milei, the far-right president of Argentina, who has been described as “Trump’s doppelgänger” and a “proxy” for the US leader in Latin America.
asserted
who → describe → America
Attendees in sparkling gowns and tuxedos swarmed to Eduardo for selfies and handshakes.
asserted
Attendees → swarm → selfies
Many asked after his 71-year-old father, whose health issues have allowed him to serve a 27-year sentence for attempted coup at home.
asserted
him → ask → home
Others gushed over his brother Flávio Bolsonaro’s lead in the first round of a close presidential race against incumbent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
asserted
Others → gush → Silva
He talked to MAGA media (including the boxer-turned-LindellTV White House correspondent Cara Castronuova) and posed alongside Javier Negre, a controversial Spanish communicator dubbed the “King Midas of virality” for right-wing propaganda.
asserted
He → talk → propaganda
At one point, a woman approached to pray with him for Brazil.
asserted
woman → approach → Brazil
Eduardo is more than a cheerleader for his would-be presidential sibling; he is poised to become the next foreign minister of Brazil in a potential Flávio Bolsonaro government.
asserted
he → poise → government
Since moving to the United States in early 2025, the younger Bolsonaro has lost his congressional seat for missing more than 80 percent of sessions and a job as a federal police investigator for “abandoning his post.”
asserted
Bolsonaro → move → post
Last week, Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes issued a warrant for his arrest after he was sentenced to more than four years in prison for trying to interfere with his father’s criminal case by lobbying the Trump administration.
asserted
he → issue → administration
“We’re going to kick out the communist dictator in Brazil and we’ll paint the continent blue,” Milei roared after warmly hugging Eduardo, who threw kicks in the air.
asserted
who → go → air
Conservatives, he said, “cannot give an inch in our reconquest of the hemisphere.”
asserted
he → say → hemisphere
Eduardo cautioned that the election results weren’t final yet, but the tone was openly celebratory.
asserted
tone → caution → ?
“When we confirm the victory of my brother Senator Flávio Bolsonaro as president of Brazil,” he said in a speech that followed Milei’s, “we’re going to achieve a new, what I call, the Golden Era of Latin America.”
asserted
I → confirm → America
Flávio came out ahead of Lula following the first round of voting, albeit by a small margin, and the election of conservative candidates to Congress all but guarantees that the legislature will move further to the right.
asserted
legislature → come → right
The presidential race will be decided in a runoff on October 25.
asserted
race → decide → October
A Bolsonaro win would bring Brazil—Latin America’s largest economy and a coveted prize for its wealth of rare earths—back into the fold of populist right-wing leaders ideologically aligned with Trump, sealing the “orange wave” that has swept a region the American president sees as his sphere of influence.
asserted
president → bring → influence
“We have everything to be just like the US,” Eduardo said.
asserted
Eduardo → have → US
The former lawmaker has used his ties to Trump’s circle to court the White House to impose tariffs on Brazil and sanctions on judicial authorities like Moraes while making the case for his father’s freedom.
asserted
lawmaker → use → freedom
Trump heeded the call, linking a 50 percent tariff on Brazilian goods announced last year to a “witch hunt” trial against Jair Bolsonaro and accusing Brazil’s government officials of “persecuting” the former president.
asserted
Trump → heed → president
In May, a couple of days after Eduardo and Flávio Bolsonaro met with Trump, the US government designated two criminal groups active in Brazil as terrorist organizations.
uncertain
government → meet → organizations
If Flávio Bolsonaro’s victory materializes, Brazil is expected to join the Shield of the Americas coalition.
asserted
Brazil → materialize → coalition
Despite his alleged connections to militia groups in Rio de Janeiro, Flávio has positioned himself as a tough-on-crime candidate, invoking the brutal regime of Nayib Bukele in El Salvador as an example to be followed.
asserted
Flávio → allege → example
Flávio and Eduardo have visited CECOT, the mega prison where migrants sent by the Trump administration reported being tortured.
asserted
migrants → visit → administration
At the gala, Eduardo name-checked Bukele and praised Colombia’s President Abelardo de la Espriella, who calls himself “El Tigre,” for posing in front of body bags.
asserted
who → check → bags
“Everybody who gives a hard time to the criminals, we love,” he remarked, adding that “for the first time we’re going to see all the countries [in Latin America] fighting narcoterrorism.”
asserted
countries → give → narcoterrorism
The audience approved.
asserted
audience → approve → ?
One real estate entrepreneur who does business in Honduras told me he found the speech “inspirational” and that Brazil should implement the “Bukele model.”
asserted
Brazil → do → model
As speakers on stage talked about getting rid of crime and defeating socialism, guests who paid between $3,000 and $10,000 to be there enjoyed wagyu meatballs, smoked duck with blackberries, grilled stuffed avocado, and smoked beef tenderloin.
asserted
who → talk → blackberries
“The best is yet to come,” Eduardo declared, vowing to free Brazil, starting with his father.
asserted
Eduardo → come → father
The Brazilian elections have raised the specter of outside influence, with the country’s intelligence agency warning of risk of US interference in light of the Trump administration’s priority of reaffirming its hegemony in Latin America.
asserted
agency → raise → America
Earlier this year, the Brazilian government denied visas to two senior State Department officials whose visit was intended to cast doubt on Brazil’s voting system ahead of the election.
asserted
visit → deny → election
Several Democrats have accused the Trump administration of “acting as an agent of interference and destabilization,” citing a “troubling pattern of interference” in electoral processes in Argentina, Honduras, and Colombia.
asserted
Democrats → accuse → Argentina
Trump, experts have observed, is playing “kingmaker” in the region.
asserted
experts → observe → region
(The event’s organizers lamented that Trump couldn’t be there because he was in Alaska campaigning ahead of the midterms.
asserted
he → lament → midterms
But after several minutes of audio issues, they showed a recorded message from the president urging US voters to “pretend” he’s on the ballot and get out to vote.)
asserted
he → show → ballot
Speaking to reporters before the gala, Eduardo dismissed concerns that the United States is meddling in Brazil’s elections, repeating unfounded claims that, during the Biden administration, USAID funded NGOs and the media to prevent the re-election of Jair Bolsonaro in 2022 under the guise of fighting disinformation.
uncertain
USAID → speak → disinformation
“Brazil has already suffered international interference,” he said.
asserted
he → suffer → interference
“What I see now is the opposite.”
asserted
see → see → What
First order of business would be to “purge this cancer called Alexandre de Moraes from the Supreme Court,” Eduardo said, calling the justice a “tyrant.”
asserted
Eduardo → purge → justice
…and 14 more, not listed.
The Aporia
