Flavio Bolsonaro has accused President Lula da Silva of election fraud and vowed to lead the opposition from abroad<\/p>\n
Brazilian Senator Flavio Bolsonaro has declared himself the rightful leader of his country after arriving in the US, having fled Brazil following his election defeat to incumbent President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
\nBolsonaro, an ally of US President Donald Trump, landed in Miami, Florida, on Wednesday morning aboard a private jet after traveling through Argentina and Ecuador. He defied a Supreme Court order to surrender his passports amid investigations into alleged financial crimes.
\nThe senator is suspected of involvement in a money-laundering scheme linked to fraudulent deductions from pension payments. He also faces a separate investigation involving alleged financial misconduct. Bolsonaro denies wrongdoing, describing the cases as politically motivated.
\nThe right-wing senator narrowly lost to Lula, a veteran left-wing politician, in Sunday\u2019s runoff election, despite receiving more votes than his rival in the first round on October 4. His father, former President Jair Bolsonaro, is serving a 27-year sentence for plotting a coup to overturn his 2022 election defeat to Lula. The elder Bolsonaro denies wrongdoing, arguing that the case was politically motivated.
\nIn a lengthy letter posted on X, Flavio Bolsonaro described himself as \u201cthe leader of Brazil\u201d and claimed that the election was rigged. An earlier version of the letter had described him as the country\u2019s elected president.
\n\u201cThe illegitimate and illegal actions of Lula\u2019s former lawyer allowed a mathematical impossibility to become reality, with Lula gaining more than 10 million votes between the first and second rounds,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n
Defeated Brazilian presidential candidate Fl\u00e1vio Bolsonaro and his family have landed in Miami after fleeing his country. <\/p>\n
This comes a day after they were granted United States visas by the Trump administration. https:\/\/t.co\/oB91ejWab5\u2014 The Associated Press (@AP) October 28, 2026<\/p>\n
Bolsonaro was referring to Supreme Federal Court Justice Cristiano Zanin, who previously represented Lula. Zanin ordered voting extended from 5pm to 7pm on Sunday following complaints from Lula\u2019s campaign about public transport disruptions. The last-minute ruling caused confusion because some polling stations had already closed, prompting Zanin to clarify that the extension applied only where voting was still underway.<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
Brazil handed Washington a setback it won\u2019t forgive<\/p>\n
Bolsonaro provided no evidence of electoral fraud. Lula won the runoff by approximately 4.4 million votes, while just 34,393 ballots were cast after the original 5pm deadline, according to Brazil\u2019s electoral authorities. The figure includes votes cast by people already waiting in line when polls were due to close.
\nBolsonaro rejected the investigations against him and vowed to \u201clead the opposition\u201d from abroad. \u201cIt was not my intention to leave my homeland, but I know exactly where this is heading. This is the classic playbook of any coup d\u2019\u00e9tat,\u201d he wrote.
\nLula earlier condemned Bolsonaro\u2019s departure as \u201ca shameful act,\u201d arguing that \u201cthose who have nothing to hide have nothing to fear.\u201d
\nTrump has also suggested that Brazil\u2019s election may have been rigged. He previously condemned the prosecution of Jair Bolsonaro as a \u201cwitch hunt\u201d and called for the case against the former president to be dropped.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Flavio Bolsonaro has accused President Lula da Silva of election fraud and vowed to lead the opposition from abroad Brazilian Senator Flavio Bolsonaro has declared himself the rightful leader of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":40730,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40729","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t