Flávio Bolsonaro arrives at Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport on Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2026, in Opa-locka, Fla.
Ricardo Arduengo/AFP via Getty images
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Ricardo Arduengo/AFP via Getty images
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil — In his first statement since leaving Brazil, Flávio Bolsonaro declared himself the country’s “president-elect,” accusing President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s government of political persecution and electoral fraud, hours after arriving in the United States following his election defeat.
In a lengthy statement posted on X, the former Brazilian presidential candidate addressed “the Brazilian people and the international community”, thanking Argentine President Javier Milei for his support and President Donald Trump for “welcoming” him.
“I will not abandon you. I shall be the voice and the free leadership of our nation,” he wrote, comparing himself to political figures who went into exile, including Charles de Gaulle, José Martí and María Corina Machado.
He claimed it had never been his “intention to leave my homeland”, but said he knew “exactly where this is heading”, describing the situation as following “the classic playbook of any coup d’état”.
He later reposted the statement with clarifications, describing himself simply as the “leader”.
The posts cap 72 hours of high drama for Bolsonaro, who arrived at Opa-locka Airport near Miami early on Wednesday with his family. Uniformed officers carrying large umbrellas escorted the family to a waiting vehicle, obstructing views from gathered media.
Earlier Wednesday, Argentina’s migration authority said in a statement on X that Bolsonaro and his family had crossed from Brazil into Argentina late Tuesday.
“Citizens Flavio Nantes Bolsonaro, Fernanda Antunes Figueira Bolsonaro, Carolina Figueira Bolsonaro, and Luiza Figueira Bolsonaro entered through the Tancredo Neves International Bridge border crossing in the province of Misiones. They did so with valid travel documentation and without any legal impediment to entering the country.”
The statement added that at 11:30 p.m. Tuesday, the group boarded a private flight bound for Guayaquil, Ecuador, according to the flight plan.
Bolsonaro, a conservative politician and ally of Trump, lost Sunday’s presidential election to incumbent Lula by more than four million votes, three weeks after winning the first round of voting.
While Bolsonaro’s Liberal Party has since acknowledged Lula’s victory, Bolsonaro has refused to concede defeat.
On Tuesday a senior U.S. administration official said that the State Department would issue visas to Bolsonaro and his family, allowing them to enter the country.
The visa announcement came as Bolsonaro faces multiple investigations in Brazil, including allegations of money laundering and tax evasion, which he denies. On Monday Brazil’s Supreme Court ordered him to surrender his passports within 24 hours and barred him from leaving the country.
In a video released that same day, Bolsonaro said federal police officers had stopped him outside the home of his father, former president Jair Bolsonaro, and ordered him to surrender his passports. The former far-right leader is under house arrest after being sentenced to 27 years in prison for plotting a coup following his own defeat by Lula in the 2022 presidential election.
“I never thought about leaving the country,” Bolsonaro said in the video. “I will hand over my passports and defend myself against this aberration.” He described the order as an attempt to intimidate him. By Tuesday however, Brazilian media were reporting that Bolsonaro had left for the United States. His campaign manager, his lawyer and other political allies had earlier said they did not know his location.
Trump has repeatedly cast doubt on Lula’s victory, suggesting on Monday that the election was “rigged”, without offering any evidence. He returned to the subject at a campaign rally in Texas on Tuesday night, as he accused Democrats of election fraud.
“Brazil is also doing a good job of it, aren’t they? Did you see that? I didn’t take sides, but it didn’t look very good,” he said.
Lula criticized Bolsonaro’s departure during celebrations for his 81st birthday in Brasília on Tuesday. “Those who have nothing to hide have nothing to fear,” Lula told supporters.
“He could have stayed and proven that the accusations [against him] are not true,” Lula said, adding that he regretted Bolsonaro’s departure. He described the move as “shameful.”
He also took aim at the Bolsonaro family’s close ties to the Trump administration. “Brazil is their second home; their first home is the United States,” he said.
