Former president Bolsonaro's son suggests the US should attack boats in Brazil as well. Senator's Message to the US Secretary of War
Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, son of former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro. Credit: Ton Molina / imago stock&people / Profimedia
Brazilian senator Flavio Bolsonaro, the son of former president Jair Bolsonaro, suggested that the US should also bomb boats in Rio de Janeiro to combat drug trafficking, as happened in the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean, reports AFP.
Washington deployed warplanes and warships to the Caribbean Sea as part of what it described as an anti-drug effort, destroying nine boats and killing at least 37 people, according to US data.
The administration of President Donald Trump claims that those boats were involved in drug trafficking, although relatives of some of the people killed claim that they were innocent fishermen, AFP notes.
Former Brazilian president's son 'envious' of US anti-drug operations
Flavio Bolsonaro re-shared on the X platform a post by the US Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, which contained a video of the moment a boat at sea is hit by a missile.
“How envious! I heard there are boats like this here in Rio de Janeiro in Guanabara Bay flooding Brazil with drugs. Wouldn't you like to spend a few months here helping us fight these terrorist organizations?” Flavio Bolsonaro wrote.
How envious!
I heard there are boats like this here in Rio de Janeiro, in Guanabara Bay, flooding Brazil with drugs.
Wouldn't you like to spend a few months here helping us fight these terrorist organizations? https://t.co/mT6mZ2wAvu— Flavio Bolsonaro (@FlavioBolsonaro) October 23, 2025
Last week, President Donald Trump announced that he had given the green light to the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) for covert action against Venezuela, saying it was considering attacks against alleged drug cartels in the Latin American country.
Exchange of words between Trump and the president of Colombia
The US actions, which killed at least one Colombian, angered Colombia's leftist President Gustavo Petro and damaged relations between Washington and Bogota.
Petro accused his American counterpart of “carrying out extrajudicial executions” that “violate international law” by attacking suspected drug-trafficking boats.
On Sunday, Trump criticized Petro, saying the current Colombian president “is an illegal drug leader who strongly encourages massive drug production, on plantations large and small, throughout Colombia,” according to The Hill. Also then, the US president announced the cut of subsidies to Colombia.
Jair Bolsonaro, sentenced to 27 years in prison
The Bolsonaro family has close relations with Donald Trump. Brazil's former president was jailed for 27 years last month for an attempted coup in what Trump called a “witch hunt” against his ally.
Another son of the former president, Eduardo, lobbied Washington heavily to impose punitive tariffs on Brazil and sanctions against top officials.
However, tensions between Brasilia and Washington have thawed in recent weeks, with a possible meeting between Trump and leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva at a summit starting this weekend in Malaysia.
