‘I am the leader’: Flavio Bolsonaro in Miami after election defeat, accuses Lula of a coup
Photo: Collected
After his defeat in Brazil’s election, Senator Flavio Bolsonaro has left the country for the United States, and there he has claimed to be the country’s ‘legitimate leader’. After arriving in Miami yesterday (Wednesday) local time, he alleged that the Supreme Court and President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva together staged an electoral coup to deprive him of power.
News agency Reuters reported that Lula won by a margin of around 4.5 million votes. Brazil’s electoral authorities, international observers, world leaders – and even Flavio’s own political party – have recognised Lula’s victory.
Flavio secretly left the country after refusing to surrender his passport on the orders of Brazil’s Supreme Court. The order is linked to a money laundering investigation, though he has denied the allegations against him. Flavio thanked Argentine President Javier Milei for arranging his travel to the United States. He also expressed gratitude to US President Donald Trump for welcoming him and his family by granting them visas to enter the United States.
In an open letter on the social media platform X, Flavio initially declared himself ‘president-elect’. He later deleted it and issued another, revised letter in which he claimed to be Brazil’s legitimate ‘leader’.
In the revised letter, Flavio said, ‘I want to tell not only my 60 million voters but also the people of Brazil that I am the leader. And those who stole Brazil’s election, those criminals, are part of a criminal organisation that has established an authoritarian regime in the country.’ He did not, however, present any evidence to support the allegation of rigging. According to analysts, his appeal to annul the result has very little chance of success.
Brazil’s electoral authority chief Cassio Nunes Marques said in a statement that the country’s election was held fully in accordance with the law and constitutional provisions. He did not, however, say anything directly about Flavio’s letter. When journalists at Joint Base Andrews in the United States asked about Flavio’s statement, Trump declined to comment. But repeating his earlier remarks, he called the election ‘very strange’.
Flavio’s declaration has created new complications for Washington in managing relations with Brazil, the largest country in Latin America. Brazil has the world’s second largest reserves of rare earth minerals. Lula alleges that the United States is colluding with the Bolsonaro family to bring them back to power. Before Sunday’s election, a Reuters report said the US State Department was running a campaign to bring the Bolsonaro family back to power. Washington, however, has denied allegations of interfering in Brazil’s internal affairs.
Earlier, Trump had alleged that Flavio’s father and former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro had been a victim of judicial persecution.
Refusing to concede defeat to Lula in the 2022 election, Jair Bolsonaro went to the United States and later returned home. After his supporters attacked government buildings in the capital Brasilia, he was sentenced to 27 years in prison for plotting a coup.
There was no immediate response from the US State Department on the matter. Lula’s office and the Supreme Court also did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Lula himself once served time in prison after being convicted in corruption cases, and those convictions were later annulled. This week he said it was ‘shameful’ that Bolsonaro had left the country instead of staying in Brazil to prove his innocence.
In the letter, Flavio also rejected the allegation that he had fled. He claims he left the country to protect himself and his family and to avoid becoming a victim of the alleged political vendetta of Lula and Brazil’s Supreme Court. Flavio said, ‘I want to make it clear: I did not flee Brazil. I left Brazil, but I have not abandoned the people of Brazil.’
Background
According to an Al Jazeera report of 11 September 2025, a panel of Brazil’s Supreme Court sentenced Jair Bolsonaro to 27 years and three months in prison on five charges related to a coup attempt; four of the five justices voted to convict.
By the numbers
According to a Times Brasil report of 25 October 2026, with results from 99.98 percent of polling stations in that day’s second-round vote, Lula received 51.78 percent (64,239,310) and Flavio Bolsonaro 48.22 percent (59,817,980) of valid votes; the margin was 4,421,330 votes.
Sources
Background sources: Times Brasil, 25 October 2026; Al Jazeera, 11 September 2025
