Defeated Brazilian presidential candidate Flavio Bolsonaro, in his first statement explaining his decision to leave Brazil, said he was the “victim” of persecution in his country.
In his last statement from the country before he fled to the US, Bolsonaro confirmed that he had been ordered to turn in his passports and was prohibited from leaving the country. He is currently staying in Florida under temporary immigration permission US President Trump reportedly intervened to help Bolsonaro enter the US, the New York Times had reported. 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.
He has refused to concede defeat and continues to allege election fraud. However, he has not presented public evidence of the same. However, the defeated presidential candidate was in Brazil till Wednesday, even as a private jet waited for him across the border in Argentina. His entry to America was then facilitated by US President Donald Trump’s allies.
At 12.21 am on Wednesday, the Gulfstream G400 took off from Puerto Iguazú and took him to Ecuador and then Miami, the Wall Street Journal reported. The Trump administration’s decision to provide refuge to Bolsonaro, therefore, marks the culmination of the family’s yearslong lobbying campaign to enlist the US President and his inner circle in its legal and political battles at home, the Wall Street Journal reported .
“The persecution began even sooner than I imagined,” the Brazilian senator said during a livestream on Instagram, in which he spoke about is decision to leave the country after he lost the presidential election. After arriving in Florida on Wednesday (October 29) this week, Bolsonaro had on issued a statement saying he is the “elected president” of Brazil. Bolsonaro has also said that he will continue to lead the opposition in the country from the US. This was later confirmed by Trump himself, when he said Bolsonaro had been given “a pass” to enter US. US officials cited by the newspaper said the temporary arrangement could eventually open the door for Bolsonaro to obtain permanent residency. Bolsonaro was received by his brother Eduardo upon his arrival in Florida, according to Brazilian newspaper O Globo.
The 45-year-old lost to Lula da Silva in the October 25 elections in Brazil by over 4 million votes. Silva, who won a historic fourth term as president, secured 51.75 per cent of the vote. After the results were released, Brazil’s Supreme Court asked Flavio Bolsonaro to surrender his passports in relation to an alleged money laundering investigation.
