Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro, who lost Brazil’s presidential election to leftist incumbent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on Sunday, declared himself the country’s leader after arriving in Florida on Wednesday.
Bolsonaro fled his country after Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered his passports to be seized less than a day after Lula won the election.
“I want to say, not only to my 60 million voters but to the Brazilian people, that I am the leader and that the criminals who stole Brazil’s election are part of a criminal organization that has established a tyranny,” he said in an open letter posted on X.
According to Reuters, Bolsonaro initially declared himself “the elected president” in a since-deleted post. He then sent out an updated letter on X, which included calling himself the rightful “leader” of Brazil.
Bolsonaro, who lost the runoff election by a 3.58% margin, was served with an order to forfeit his passports and not to leave the country on Monday.
“I was ordered right on the street to hand over my passports, and I’m also prohibited from leaving the country,” Bolsonaro said, according to a Fox News Digital translation of a video he posted to his social media channels Monday.
The order was signed by de Moraes, who Bolsonaro supporters accuse of being a staunch ally of Lula.
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Bolsonaro landed at Opa Locka Executive Airport just north of Miami with his family Wednesday morning after President Donald Trump granted Bolsonaro and his family visas.
When asked Wednesday if he would approve of Bolsonaro coming to the U.S. following his defeat, Trump told reporters he would, adding, “I think they’re fine people.”
“The election was very strange,” Trump continued. “And I thought it was terrible. It’s gotten bad reviews. You look at what happened to their market.”
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Brazil’s stock market plummeted Monday after Lula’s victory. Its benchmark index, the Ibovespa, closed down nearly 14% on the first day of post-election trading. The Brazilian real also suffered one of its steepest drops in history, losing nearly 11% of its value relative to the U.S. dollar.
Trump also said, “I didn’t take sides, but it looked like another rigged election.”
Brazilian news outlet MD+ reported that Brazilian Federal Police requested Bolsonaro’s passport seizure order just seven minutes after Brazil’s Superior Electoral Court confirmed Lula’s victory.
Bolsonaro, the son of former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, initially said he would comply with the order, but ultimately chose to leave.
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“I have never thought about leaving the country,” Bolsonaro said in a social media video on Monday. “I will hand over my passports and defend myself against this travesty, which is a clear attempt to intimidate me.”
But Bolsonaro ultimately crossed the border into Argentina, Argentina’s National Directorate of Migrations confirmed, saying the Bolsonaro family entered the country “with valid travel documentation and without any legal impediment” Tuesday night. The family then crossed into Ecuador where they boarded a private plane for Florida, according to Time Magazine.
Lula called his decision to leave “a shameful act,” recalling his own 2018 arrest for corruption.
Bolsonaro said the order came as a result of a social media post his brother Eduardo made in which he said Flávio should leave the country if he loses the election.
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Flávio was under multiple criminal investigations for alleged money laundering, corruption and tax evasion, according to Brazilian newspaper Folha de São Paulo.
According to Reuters, Bolsonaro denied fleeing Brazil, saying he left to protect himself and his family. He said he was avoiding a witch hunt being carried out by Lula and the Brazilian Supreme Court.
“I want to make this clear: I did not flee Brazil,” Bolsonaro said. “I left Brazil, but I did not abandon the Brazilian people.”
On Tuesday, Brazil’s Supreme Court also ordered the Federal Police to open an investigation into alleged illegal foreign funding for Bolsonaro’s presidential campaign, specifically focusing on Rockbridge Network, a conservative donor group co-founded by U.S. Vice President JD Vance.
Flavio Bolsonaro, President Lula da Silva, President Trump and Vice President JD Vance’s offices did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital for comment.
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