US President Donald Trump reportedly intervened to help Brazilian presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro enter the United States, where he is now staying in Florida under temporary immigration permission, according to a report by The New York Times.
Eduardo has lived in the US since last year after he moved there to lobby Trump to help their father, jailed former president Jair Bolsonaro, Bloomberg reported. Bolsonaro landed in the US late Tuesday, following his loss in Sunday’s presidential election in Brazil. He has refused to concede defeat, and continues to allege election fraud without presenting public evidence. The Bolsonaro family has also long accused Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who demanded that Flávio surrender his passports, of political persecution.
Flávio was defeated by Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who won a historic fourth term as president after securing 51.75 per cent of the vote, according to Brazil’s electoral court. Flávio secured 48.25 per cent of the votes.
The right-wing politician landed in Miami, according to Brazilian newspaper O Globo, and was received by his brother Eduardo upon his arrival. The right-wing politician made his last public statement through a social media post on Monday, a day after his election defeat, stating that he had been ordered to turn in his passports and was prohibited from leaving the country. The directive, issued by Brazil’s Supreme Court, was issued on Sunday following Flávio’s defeat. Flávio is facing multiple criminal investigations in Brazil, and missed the court-imposed deadline to surrender his regular and diplomatic passports on Tuesday.
