US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has denied that the US government helped Flavio Bolsonaro leave Brazil and arrive in the United States. He told reporters in Atlanta that Washington was not involved in arranging the departure of the son of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.
“We did not facilitate anything. We were not involved in any of the measures he took in connection with his departure“, Rubio said, quoted by the Associated Press.
Trump allowed him to enter
The Secretary of State has confirmed that President Donald Trump allowed Bolsonaro to enter the United States. According to him, the Brazilian politician already had a valid US visa.
“The president made it clear that if he arrived in the US through a border crossing, he would be admitted to the country on bail, and that is what happened”, Rubio said.
He stressed that the decision to admit him was made by Trump, but the US administration was not directly involved in the actions related to leaving Brazil.
Bolsonaro claims that the election was fraudulent
Flavio Bolsonaro lost the second round of the presidential election in Brazil to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. After the defeat, he claimed that there was electoral fraud, but did not provide evidence to support the claim.
Bolsonaro announced that he would lead the opposition from Florida. His departure came despite an order from Brazil's Supreme Court to hand over his passports in connection with investigations into alleged money laundering and financial fraud.
The American position was presented against the backdrop of questions surrounding the manner in which Bolsonaro left the country and political tensions following his election loss. Rubio did not identify any American institutions or representatives as having organized his trip.
Sources: news.bg, apnews.com, washingtonpost.com