{"id":3470,"date":"2026-10-29T10:04:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-29T05:04:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=3470"},"modified":"2026-10-29T10:04:00","modified_gmt":"2026-10-29T05:04:00","slug":"bolsonaro-claims-to-be-brazils-rightful-leader-after-fleeing-to-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=3470","title":{"rendered":"Bolsonaro claims to be Brazil\u2019s rightful leader after fleeing to US"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Flavio Bolsonaro declared \u200bhimself Brazil\u2019s rightful leader on Wednesday after arriving in the United States, alleging he was the victim of an electoral coup by the country\u2019s \u200cSupreme Court and President Luiz In\u00e1cio Lula da Silva, who won the vote by over 4 million votes.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Bolsonaro arrived in Miami after leaving Brazil, where he refused to comply with a Supreme Court order to surrender his passports.<\/p>\n

He thanked Argentine leader Javier Milei for helping him make the journey and US President Donald Trump, who granted him and his family entry visas, for welcoming him.<\/p>\n

In an initial \u200bopen letter posted on X, Bolsonaro declared himself \u201cthe elected president.\u201d He then deleted that version and updated it with another letter in which he said he \u200bwas the rightful \u201cleader\u201d of Brazil.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to say, not only to my 60 million voters but to the Brazilian people, that I \u2060am the leader and that the criminals who stole Brazil\u2019s election are part of a criminal organisation that has established a tyranny,\u201d he said in the updated version.<\/p>\n

Lula\u2019s victory \u200bhas been recognised by Brazil\u2019s federal electoral court, global leaders, international observers, and Bolsonaro\u2019s own party.<\/p>\n

Brazil\u2019s election took place in full compliance with legal and constitutional requirements, electoral authority chief \u200bKassio Nunes Marques said in a statement, without referencing Bolsonaro\u2019s letter.<\/p>\n

Asked by reporters at Joint Base Andrews about Bolsonaro\u2019s comments, Trump declined to comment, reiterating earlier views that it was \u201ca very strange election.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/a>Problem for Washington<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Bolsonaro\u2019s declaration poses a problem for Washington as it seeks to navigate a rift with Latin America\u2019s largest country, home to the world\u2019s second-largest reserves of rare earths.<\/p>\n

Lula has accused Washington of colluding \u200bwith the Bolsonaro family to help return them to power. Ahead of Sunday\u2019s election, Reuters reported on a US State Department campaign<\/a> to restore the Bolsonaros to office. Washington denies \u200bmeddling in Brazil\u2019s domestic affairs.<\/p>\n

Trump has previously alleged Flavio\u2019s father, former President Jair Bolsonaro, was a victim of judicial persecution.<\/p>\n

Jair Bolsonaro travelled to the United States after refusing to concede defeat to \u200cLula in \u20602022.<\/p>\n

He eventually returned to Brazil but was sentenced to 27 years in prison for plotting a coup after supporters stormed government buildings in Bras\u00edlia.<\/p>\n

There was no immediate response from the State Department.<\/p>\n

Neither Lula\u2019s office nor the Supreme Court immediately responded to requests for comment.<\/p>\n

Lula, who served time on corruption convictions that were later annulled, said this week it was \u201cshameful\u201d Bolsonaro had not stayed in Brazil to prove his innocence.<\/p>\n

<\/a>No proof<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Bolsonaro left Brazil in secret after the Supreme Court issued the order, which relates to a money-laundering investigation in which \u200bhe denies wrongdoing.<\/p>\n

Bolsonaro, who had been widely \u200bexpected to win Sunday\u2019s election, did not \u2060provide evidence for the alleged electoral fraud.<\/p>\n

He based his rejection of the result on the fact that a Lula-appointed Supreme Court justice had extended voting by two hours on Sunday due to Lula campaign allegations of voter suppression in left-leaning northeastern states.<\/p>\n

However, Bolsonaro\u2019s \u200bcampaign also sought an extension due to rain in conservative southern states.<\/p>\n

Bolsonaro lost to Lula by around 4.5 million votes. Fewer \u200bthan 35,000 votes, or \u2060some 0.03% of the total, were cast in the extra two hours of voting ordered by the Supreme Court, according to an analysis by Insper professor Pedro Burgos.<\/p>\n

Analysts say Bolsonaro\u2019s request to annul the election result faces little chance of success.<\/p>\n

In his letter, Bolsonaro denied fleeing Brazil, saying he left to protect himself and his family, and to avoid being the victim \u2060of a \u200bwitch hunt he accused Lula and the Brazilian Supreme Court of carrying out.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to make this clear: \u200bI did not flee Brazil,\u201d he said. \u201cI left Brazil, but I did not abandon the Brazilian people.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Flavio Bolsonaro declared \u200bhimself Brazil\u2019s rightful leader on Wednesday after arriving in the United States, alleging he was the victim of an electoral coup by the country\u2019s \u200cSupreme Court and President Luiz In\u00e1cio Lula da Silva, who won the vote by over 4 million votes. Bolsonaro arrived in Miami after leaving Brazil, where he refused to comply with a Supreme Court order to surrender his passports. He thanked Argentine leader Javier Milei for helping him make the journey and US President Donald Trump, who granted him and his family entry…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3470","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english"],"gutentor_comment":0,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3470","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3470"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3470\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3470"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3470"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3470"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}