'I did not flee': Jair Bolsonaro's son Flávio declares himself Brazil's rightful leader after landing in Miami
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 son of jailed former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, arrived in Miami on Wednesday after departing Brazil via Argentina and Ecuador on a private Gulfstream jet, accompanied by his wife and their two teenage daughters. He thanked President Trump — who confirmed "we gave him a pass to come into the country" — and Argentine leader Javier Milei for making his departure possible. Lula's victory, won by more than 4.5 million votes, has been recognised by Brazil's federal electoral court, by foreign observers, and by Bolsonaro's own party.
Bolsonaro initially described himself as 'the elected president' in an open letter, only to delete it and publish a revised version in which he styled himself Brazil's 'leader' instead.
Trump stopped short of endorsing Bolsonaro's fraud allegations, saying only 'it was a very strange election' and that Bolsonaro's family 'were treated very unfairly'.
The disputed two-hour voting extension that Bolsonaro points to as evidence of fraud produced fewer than 35,000 ballots — around 0.03% of the overall total.
