Brazilian presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro arrived in South Florida with his family Wednesday morning, days after losing Sunday’s election, and then issued a statement saying he is the rightful winner.
His plane, which departed from Ecuador, landed at Opa-locka Executive Airport. CBS News Miami reported that Bolsonaro had flown through Argentina and traveled on an Italian passport. It is unclear whether he surrendered his Brazilian passport before leaving, as Brazil’s Supreme Court had ordered him to do by noon Tuesday.
In the statement, Bolsonaro said he is “the true elected president of Brazil” and accused electoral fraud, but he offered no supporting evidence in the excerpts reviewed. He lost to leftist incumbent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who received about 52% of the vote to his 48%. He thanked Argentine President Javier Milei and President Donald Trump for welcoming him.
Bolsonaro is under investigation by Brazil’s Supreme Court for alleged corruption, money laundering and tax evasion. His whereabouts after landing were not immediately known. A Brazilian newspaper reported that a person close to him said he would hold a news conference in Miami this week.
Brazilians at Miami International Airport gave sharply different views. One Brazilian professor called the election fair but criticized Trump’s support for Bolsonaro, while another said Bolsonaro fled because he is corrupt.
