Bolsonaro flees to the USA – and does not recognize defeat

Election in Brazil

Bolsonaro declares himself president – ​​and rows back

After fleeing to the USA, Flávio Bolsonaro claims he is the real president of Brazil. But then he backs down.

In Brazil The judiciary has ordered an investigation against the defeated right-wing presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro. The reason is the suspicion of inadmissible foreign election campaign help. The focus is on the Rockbridge Network and its contacts with Brazilian entrepreneurs, as can be seen from the order signed by Federal Judge Flávio Dino. The network from the USA was co-founded in 2019 by current US Vice President JD Vance.

According to the Brazilian constitution, political parties are prohibited from accepting financial support from abroad. The investigation is intended to clarify whether there is a “connection between financial resources, services or other economically measurable advantages and the election campaign.” According to a report in the Washington Post, Rockbridge denies the allegations. These came about based on “false information”.

After his secret departure to the USA, the candidate Flávio Bolsonaro, who was defeated in the presidential election, initially described himself as the “real president” of Brazil. “I am the elected president, and the criminals who stole the election in Brazil are part of a criminal organization that has established a tyranny,” Bolsonaro said in a statement on X.

Shortly thereafter, he backtracked again: In a new version of his message, he replaced the phrase “true president” with the word “leader.”

The original wording could have gotten him into further trouble with the Brazilian justice system. However, in the new version, Flávio Bolsonaro also insisted that “despicable electoral fraud” had taken place on Sunday when incumbent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva won in Brazil.

• Lula’s election victory in Brazil: This has never happened before

Bolsonaro announced that he wanted to lead the opposition from the USA. “I want to make it clear: I did not flee Brazil. I left the country in the interests of Brazil and evaded a state of emergency in order to be the leader that my people deserve,” wrote Bolsonaro in an open letter on X to his approximately 220 million compatriots in Brazil after arriving in Miami.

Bolsonaro did not provide any evidence of fraud. International observers classified the vote as fair. He arrived in Miami with his family on Wednesday after defying a Supreme Court order to surrender his passports amid a money laundering investigation. Bolsonaro rejects the allegations. He thanked the US President for his help with his departure and his acceptance Donald Trump and the Argentine head of state Javier Milei.

The right-wing populist and his family fled to the USA via Argentina and Ecuador. The Argentine immigration authority said on Wednesday on the online service X that Flávio Bolsonaro entered Argentina on Tuesday evening “with valid travel documents and without legal obstacles” before taking a flight to Ecuador have started. Bolsonaro, his wife and his two daughters boarded a private plane operated by Baires Fly SA bound for Guayaquil in Ecuador, the authority said. From there they flew on to Miami.