Authorities in Argentina granted refuge to a Brazilian fugitive from justice for the first time. The decision was formalized this Tuesday (10).
The beneficiary is Joel Borges Corrêa, heading to Chile in November 2024.
He lived in Buenos Aires and was detained by the Argentine Federal Police in the tourist town of El Volcán, in the province of San Luis, after stopping at a traffic control. In the car, I had a suitcase with clothes.
In Brazil, Corrêa had been sentenced to 13 years and six months in prison by the (Supreme Federal Court). The accusation included the crimes of violent abolition of the democratic rule of law, coup d’état, deterioration of listed property, qualified damage and armed criminal association.
According to the complaint, Correa, 47, was arrested in the act by the DF Military Police at the same time that the vandalism was taking place at the Palácio do Planalto. The indictment further stated that he “actively participated” in the destruction of furniture.
The refugee decision was made by Conare (National Commission for Refugees), the government body responsible for analyzing asylum requests and deciding who receives refugee status in the country.
It works in a similar way to the Brazilian Conare, being a state body made up of employees from different ministries of the Argentine government.
Corrêa’s lawyer, Luciano Cunha, said that the administrative decision took place on March 4, but publication took place this Tuesday.
“In the aforementioned procedure, it was recognized that Joel Borges Corrêa left his country of origin due to a well-founded fear of persecution related to the attribution of a political opinion, as well as due to concrete risks of violation of fundamental guarantees, circumstances that justify the granting of international protection by the Argentine State”, said the lawyer, in a note.
As a report from the Sheetwhen they were detained by different Argentine security agencies.
In addition to Corrêa, Wellington Luiz Firmino (sentenced to 17 years in prison), Joelton Gusmão de Oliveira (17 years) and Rodrigo de Freitas Moro Ramalho (14 years) were also arrested. Like Corrêa, Firmino was detained while trying to escape to Chile.
Most of these Brazilians have requested refuge in the country, a process that tends to be slow. In the requests, they claim to be politically persecuted in Brazil. The neighboring country has attracted those accused of coup attacks since the inauguration of President Javier Milei, in 2023, who is politically aligned with former President Jair Bolsonaro.
According to Argentine Conare, a refugee is a person who is outside their country due to well-founded fears of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a certain social group or political opinions, and who is unable or unwilling, due to these fears, to seek the protection of their country.
A refugee is also considered to be anyone who has fled their country because their life, safety or freedom are threatened by widespread violence, armed conflicts, massive violations of human rights or other circumstances that have seriously disturbed public order.
