Flávio Bolsonaro claims he is Brazil's true president, then backtracks

Brazil's defeated right-wing presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro insisted Wednesday he is his country's rightful leader, after fleeing to the United States to start a self-imposed exile.

Bolsonaro's defiance on arrival in Florida signalled continued upheaval for Brazil, where leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva won a dramatic run-off election Sunday.

"I am the elected president, and the criminals who stole Brazil's election are part of a criminal organisation that has established a tyranny," Bolsonaro said in the statement published on his X account, slamming "electoral fraud."

"I will lead the opposition from here" in the United States, he added.

In a later version of the statement, he revised his claim, saying he is the "leader," rather than "president."

“It was not my intention to leave my homeland, but I know full well where this will lead me,” said the opposition senator.

The opposition senator claimed that on Sunday evening he witnessed “with horror how an electoral fraud was unfolding before my very eyes."

 

Miami – via Argentina

Bolsonaro, 45, touched down earlier Wednesday in a private jet at Opa-Locka Executive Airport near Miami.

Rogerio Marinho, the leader of Bolsonaro's Liberal Party in the Senate, told reporters in Brasília that he was in "solidarity" with the former candidate, describing him as a "political exile." 

However, he distanced himself from Bolsonaro's statement, and refused to back up Bolsonaro's claims of electoral fraud. 

"The Liberal Party cannot make that claim," he said. "There is no evidence of that."

Flávio Bolsonaro "is an expression of the right in Brazil today...he calls himself a leader and it's true: he's a leader," Marinho told reporters.

 

'Very strange'

US President Donald Trump's hard-right administration has strong links to Bolsonaro and his father Jair Bolsonaro, who is under house arrest in Brazil after attempting to overturn his own electoral loss to Lula in 2022.

Trump reiterated his stand that Brazil's election was "very strange" but told reporters he "won't get involved" in Flávio Bolsonaro's claim to the presidency.

In his statement, Bolsonaro name-checked Argentina's President Javier Milei for his "courage, his sense of justice and his respect for the rule of law.” He also thanked Trump and the “wonderful American people for welcoming me.”

“This is a land of freedoms and brothers and sisters who share the same values as the good people of my country. President Trump is a great defender of freedom of expression,” he added.

He claimed he was the victim of political persecution and a "witch hunt," much like his father.

Flávio then compared himself to France's Charles de Gaulle and Venezuelan leader Juan Guaidó, saying, "I am not the first person to have to fight for my country while far away from it."

 

 

Details emerging

Details of how Bolsonaro, accompanied by his wife and daughters, made it to US soil are still emerging.

He is under investigation in his home country over alleged corruption and money-laundering. With his current parliamentary immunity about to expire, he was ordered to surrender his passports but left anyway, reaching the United States via Argentina and Ecuador.

A police source told the AFP news agency that Bolsonaro's Brazilian and diplomatic passports had been cancelled, but the senator has also held Italian nationality since 2023.

The US Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that the Bolsonaro family members were inspected and cleared "with applicable immigration laws and procedures."

The travel ban was issued by powerful Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who led the case against Bolsonaro's father and is a controversial figure hated by the Brazilian right.

 

'Shameful' act

Lula, who won Sunday's election with 51.8 percent of the vote, called Bolsonaro's departure a "shameful" act.

"A person who sneaks out of their country must have something to hide," he said in Brasilia during his 81st birthday celebration on Tuesday.

But Brazil police issued a statement Wednesday saying that he was not considered a fugitive.

There was controversy in neighbouring Argentina, where opposition lawmakers demanded to know how Bolsonaro had managed to transit through the country.

While Argentine authorities said he was carrying valid travel documents, officials have requested Cabinet Chief Diego Santilli to provide details to Congress, according to opposition lawmaker Agustín Rossi.

Unión por la Patria lawmaker Rossi accused the Milei government of being “complicit in the escape.”

“Argentina is ending up as an accomplice to Bolsonaro’s flight,” said the veteran Peronist, who criticised the government for allegedly providing the right-wing senator with “the necessary logistics to enable him to fly to the United States."

 

Fraud cases

The most high-profile fraud case against Bolsonaro in Brazil centres on the unreleased biopic Dark Horse, supposedly starring US actor Jim Caviezel as Flávio's father Jair.

In May, the outlet Intercept Brasil revealed audio recordings in which Flávio Bolsonaro negotiated approximately US$24 million to finance the film with banker Daniel Vorcaro, who is jailed over one of Brazil's biggest-ever fraud cases.

Before the leak, Flávio Bolsonaro had denied knowing Vorcaro, or that he had financed the movie.

In July, the Supreme Court ordered a probe into the film's financing, and whether it involved corruption, money laundering or the illegal movement of currency.

Bolsonaro acknowledged Vorcaro had funded the film, but insisted it was a private business deal that was "completely legal."

 

Lula reverse

Bolsonaro had expected to win the tight race against Lula after coming ahead of the leftist president in a first-round vote.

In the end, Lula won by around 4.4 million votes.

Bolsonaro claims the result was a "mathematical impossibility" as Lula's vote tally rose by 10 million from the first round to the run-off.

After Lula's poor first round showing, the left was jolted awake and staged a massive mobilisation on the streets and online.

An AFP fact check showed that between a steep drop in abstention rates and votes that had been cast for third-way candidates, there were approximately 14 million new votes up for grabs.

Bolsonaro won 3.7 million more votes than he did in the first round.

The senator also repeated his complaint about a two-hour extension of voting at the last-minute.

The extension had been requested by both sides, due to public transport issues and heavy rains. The electoral court confirmed only 34,000 votes were cast in the extra time.

Finally, Bolsonaro also accused Lula of "an abuse of political and economic power," related to the president's announcements of new social benefits during the campaign.

 

– TIMES/AFP/NA