At 9:24 on Wednesday morning, a plane landed at a private airport near Miami. Flavio Bolsonaro, his wife and their two daughters disembarked. This ends the speculation surrounding the Brazilian politician's whereabouts.
On Monday, a few hours after his election loss, Bolsonaro assured that he would not leave Brazil. "I will organize the opposition. We have achieved a majority in the Senate and the House of Representatives. Let's raise our heads and continue fighting for our Brazil," Bolsonaro said, as quoted by the German public broadcaster ARD. "Whatever happens, we will not give up on our Brazil."
The spectacular escape
However, on Tuesday, reports began to pour in: Argentine media published speculation that Bolsonaro was leaving the country, and by evening it was heard that he was already in the United States - based on rumors spread by anonymous sources. The authorities issued a refutation.
All this was obviously intended to cover up the fact that the escape was still in the planning process. The Supreme Court had previously banned Bolsonaro from leaving the country and ordered him to hand over his personal documents.
However, it turns out that the 45-year-old senator probably used his Italian passport to leave for Argentina on Tuesday night, from where he continued to the United States with a stopover in Ecuador.
The United States expressed its readiness to receive Bolsonaro and issued visas to him and his family. Even before his landing, US President Donald Trump said: "I consider them to be honest people. The elections were very strange. I think they are terrible. They have become the subject of very bad criticism."
Money laundering, corruption, tax evasion
However, the Brazilian judiciary is investigating Bolsonaro's integrity, ARD points out. It is about money laundering, corruption and tax evasion.
The authorities are investigating Bolsonaro's ties to the banker Daniel Vorcaro, who has since been arrested. He is at the center of the biggest fraud scandal in Brazil's modern history. It is believed that Flavio Bolsonaro received funds from him to finance a film about his father - former President Jair Bolsonaro, who was arrested for a coup attempt, from which he probably embezzled 20 million.
In addition, it is alleged that together with his lawyer friend Flavio Bolsonaro is also involved in money laundering related to sports betting. It is about approximately 1.1 billion euros, ARD writes. Bolsonaro denies the charges, and his supporters spread the narrative of political persecution by the judiciary, which is influenced by the leftist Lula.
The comment of political analyst Octavio Guedes is different: "Flavio Bolsonaro is fleeing a country where he could have run freely. He is fleeing a country where his brother is a senator and his other brother is a deputy in parliament. He is leaving a country where his party has a majority in the Chamber of Representatives, that is, he is fleeing democracy. He is simply fleeing justice - nothing else is at stake".
President, leader or nothing?
In February, Bolsonaro's Senate term expires, which means he will lose his parliamentary immunity. If he were elected president, investigations against him would only be possible with the consent of Congress, in which Bolsonaro's party is the most strongly represented formation, explains ARD.
Flavio Bolsonaro never recognized Lula da Silva's election victory, although his party did. And on Wednesday evening, already in the United States, he published a communiqué on the X platform, in which he defined himself as the "real elected president" and spoke of electoral fraud in the runoff on October 25. In addition, Bolsonaro compared himself to Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido and even to Charles de Gaulle. A little later, the phrase "real elected president" was corrected to "leader".
"The right-wing camp must take a stand"
International relations expert João Paulo Charlo points out in this regard that the image of the moderate Bolsonaro imposed during the election campaign turns out to be just a facade. "Flavio Bolsonaro is the only one who claims that the elections were "stolen". Will all right-wing parliamentarians and governors give up the mandates they won because they believe the elections were stolen? The answer is - no. The only one who is dissatisfied is Flavio - because he lost."
Now is the time for the right-wing camp in Brazil to take a stand, the expert adds. Donald Trump has already done so: after refusing to comment on Bolsonaro's statement, he said that although he had given him permission to come to the United States, he would not interfere any further.
Source: www.dw.com