Brazilian Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, who landed in Miami after losing the presidential election on Sunday, has said it was never his intention to “leave my homeland”.
“I did not flee Brazil; I left for the sake of Brazil,” he said in his first statement since his departure.
The US provided visas to him and his family after Brazil cancelled his passports as part of a criminal investigation. Bolsonaro denies any wrongdoing. On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump told reporters: “We gave him a pass to come into the country”.
Newly re-elected President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has criticised Bolsonaro’s secretive exit from the country, saying “those who have nothing to hide have nothing to fear”.
Bolsonaro’s arrival in Florida ended days of confusion over his whereabouts, after he was reported to have travelled to Argentina, and then prematurely reported to have already entered the US on Tuesday.
In a statement, Bolsonaro thanked both the presidents of Argentina and the US, and the American public “who share the same values as the good people of my own country”.
“It was never my intention to leave my homeland, but I know exactly where this is heading,” he said. “I departed from a regime of exception so that I could become the leader my people deserve.”
He called himself a victim of a coup d’état and political persecution, and said his travel to the US was to protect his family.
In the lengthy letter, he also repeated unsubstantiated allegations of “electoral fraud” which he said allowed a “mathematical impossibility” to occur in the election.
On Wednesday, Trump declined to discuss the allegations made in Bolsonaro’s letter.
“I won’t get involved. It was a very strange election, that’s for sure,” Trump said. He went on to add that he thought Bolsonaro “and his family were treated very unfairly”.
After Bolsonaro won the first round of Brazil’s election, Lula won the second round by more than four million votes, which was attributed to significantly higher turnout, and swaying more undecided voters.
The result was confirmed by the president of Brazil’s top electoral court, who was appointed by Bolsonaro’s father, former president Jair Bolsonaro.
Speculation about Bolsonaro’s whereabouts was first triggered by a report on an Argentine news site, which claimed that he had crossed the land border between Brazil and Argentina and then boarded a private plane en route to the US.
Brazilian police took the rumours seriously. Early on Tuesday, they checked border crossings but found no evidence that Bolsonaro had left the country, and Argentine officials said they had no reports of him crossing.
For a little while, it seemed like Bolsonaro may just be keeping an uncharacteristically low-profile after being unexpectedly beaten by his left-wing rival in the presidential run-off vote on Sunday, in addition to a criminal investigation that led to orders that his passports be turned into authorities.
But when he failed to surrender his passports in time to meet a 24-hour deadline on Tuesday, Brazilian authorities cancelled the documents and ordered police to make checks at border posts.
Speculation quickly grew that he’d left the country and Bolsonaro’s lawyers said they had no idea where he was.
Confusion about Bolsonaro’s whereabouts as Argentina says he flew to Ecuador
Hours later on Tuesday evening, several sources told the BBC and other broadcasters that he was on his way to the US.
A cousin, who is close to Flávio Bolsonaro and his younger brother Eduardo, told BBC Brasil that the defeated right-wing candidate had arrived in Miami.
Another close aide to Eduardo Bolsonaro told BBC Mundo that Flávio was with his younger brother in Miami.
Neither Flávio nor Eduardo Bolsonaro could be reached directly for comment at the time.
Getty ImagesBut later, however, Argentine migration authorities posted on social media saying that Bolsonaro, his wife, and two daughters had only just crossed into Argentina over land on Tuesday night local time.
Flight tracking data verified by the BBC suggested the Bolsonaros departed from Puerto Iguazú in Argentina at 12:18 local time (03:18 GMT) on Wednesday to head to Guayaquil in Ecuador.
After a brief stop, the same private jet took them to Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport, where they were pictured disembarking just before 09:30 local time (13:30 GMT).
Photographers, who had been waiting for his arrival to finally put an end to all the speculation, swarmed around Bolsonaro as he left the airport in Miami, while his team tried to cover him with umbrellas.
Later, Eduardo Bolsonaro posted a photo with his brother Flávio on social media, with the location listed as “United States”.
The caption read: “Today’s photo after reuniting with my brother Flavio Bolsonaro. Yesterday was a long day, perhaps the longest of my life. But we prevailed. Even here outside, we will not give up on Brazil.”
Flávio Bolsonaro is not the first member of his family to travel to the United States.
His father, Jair Bolsonaro, also left Brazil for Florida in December 2022 before his successor, Lula, was inaugurated.
Jair was still in the US when his supporters stormed Brazil’s government buildings and Supreme Court on 8 January. He later used his absence as part of his defence in his coup trial, which ultimately led to his conviction and 27-year sentence.
Flávio’s brother, Eduardo Bolsonaro, meanwhile, has been living in Texas after taking leave from Brazil’s Congress. While in the US, he lobbied officials there in an attempt to influence the coup trial of his father, which led to the US imposing punitive tariffs on Brazil and sanctions on key officials.
Eduardo was convicted in absentia over this by Brazil’s highest court earlier this year.
It is not yet clear what Flávio Bolsonaro’s ultimate destination will be, nor how long he plans to stay in the US.
He is the subject of two investigations currently pending before Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court.
One is regarding possible irregularities in the transfer of nearly $70m (£53m) from private bank Banco Master to the film Dark Horse – a biopic about his father.
The second investigation relates to alleged money laundering, both of which Bolsonaro denies.
He is set to lose his parliamentary immunity on 31 January, when his eight-year Senate term ends.
