Right-wing Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, who was defeated by Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in Brazil's presidential election held on Sunday, secretly left the country despite having his passport confiscated and settled in Miami, Florida. In an open letter posted on the social media platform X, Bolsonaro initially declared himself "the true elected president" before revising the post to describe himself as "the leader of Brazil."
In the letter, Bolsonaro explicitly thanked Argentine President Javier Milei and US President Donald Trump, stating: "This support was vital, first in leaving Brazil, and then in arriving on US soil alongside my brother Eduardo." Trump had previously stated that he viewed Brazil's election results with suspicion and had approved entry for Bolsonaro and his family into the United States.
Bolsonaro firmly denied accusations that he had fled the country, framing his departure not as a flight but as a "fighting strategy." He wrote: "I did not flee Brazil — I left for Brazil. I stepped away from this extraordinary regime in order to be the leader my people deserve." He described the current government and judiciary as an "extraordinary regime" and accused Supreme Court Justice Cristiano Zanin of interfering in the election by extending voting hours by two hours, claiming this move gave Lula da Silva more than 10 million additional votes between the first and second rounds.
In the letter, Bolsonaro drew comparisons to former French President Charles de Gaulle, Cuban independence hero Jose Marti, and Venezuelan opposition figures Juan Guaido, Edmundo Gonzalez, and Maria Corina Machado, arguing that these individuals were also "treated as criminals by the regimes they fought." He concluded: "I am the leader of Brazil, and our struggle has only just begun."
Despite Bolsonaro's fraud allegations, the election results were accepted by all official bodies, including the Superior Electoral Court, the judiciary, the government, and even the Liberal Party that fielded him as its presidential candidate. The suspect faces multiple ongoing investigations into corruption, money laundering, and the alleged illegal financing of a biographical film about his father titled "Dark Horse." President Lula da Silva called Bolsonaro's departure in violation of a travel ban "shameful."
