Flavio Bolsonaro declares himself Brazil's 'elected president' after fleeing to Miami and claims 'criminals' stole the vote he lost
Flávio Bolsonaro, son of jailed ex-president Jair, abandoned his demand for annulment of the result by Monday, pledging instead to lead the opposition.Flávio Bolsonaro routed his escape flight through Guayaquil, Ecuador, to avoid Brazilian airspace after the Supreme Court cancelled his passports for ignoring a deadline to surrender them.
Flávio Bolsonaro, the 45-year-old defeated Brazilian presidential candidate, declared himself the rightful president-elect of Brazil on Wednesday, insisting "criminals" had stolen Sunday's election — a contest he lost to incumbent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva by around 4.5 million votes. He made the claim from Miami, where he landed after defying a Brazilian Supreme Court order to surrender his passports and escaping via Argentina and Ecuador on a private Gulfstream jet. International observers have found Sunday's vote fair.
Trump, who called the election result "very strange" and "terrible," granted the Bolsonaro family US visas to enter Florida.
Bolsonaro fled across the land border into Argentina's Misiones province at 10:50 p.m. Tuesday, then flew via Ecuador to Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport, emerging shielded by black umbrellas under police escort without speaking to the press.
Bolsonaro faces Brazilian Supreme Court investigations into corruption, money laundering and tax evasion — and his Senate immunity expires in late January 2027.
