Flavio Bolsonaro declared himself Brazil's "legally elected president" from the United States, despite losing the presidential election to incumbent Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. The senator later deleted the first version of his letter and replaced it with text calling himself the country's "leader."
Bolsonaro left Brazil and arrived in Miami on October 28 with his family after the United States granted him entry visas. In the letter, he thanked Argentine President Javier Milley and US President Donald Trump for their support.
Accusations without evidence
In the original version, Bolsonaro said he wanted to tell his nearly 60 million voters and all Brazilians that he was the elected president, and that the people he said "stole" the elections were part of a criminal organization that had established a "tyranny."
In the revised text, he maintained his accusations against the Supreme Court and Lula da Silva, but replaced the term "elected president" with "leader of Brazil." Bolsonaro claimed that the elections were rigged, without providing any evidence.
Lula da Silva won the runoff by a margin of over 4 million votes. International leaders and the Organization of American States recognized the result, while Bolsonaro continued to dispute it.
Trump: I will not interfere
Asked about Bolsonaro's statements, Donald Trump said he would not interfere in the political situation in Brazil. “I will not comment on that, but I know that we gave him permission to enter the country. I will not interfere. It was certainly a very strange election“, Trump said, quoted by “Agenzia Brasil“.
The US president had previously questioned the result, saying that the election “looks like it was rigged“. However, Trump has not announced any plans for political or other intervention in favor of Bolsonaro.
The case puts Washington in a delicate position, as the US administration has both allowed the entry of the losing candidate and said it will not interfere in the Brazilian political dispute. For now, Bolsonaro remains in the United States, and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva retains the presidency according to the announced election results.
Sources: theprint.in, agenciabrasil.ebc.com.br, apnews.com