Bolsonaro Fled Brazil For the U.S. After Losing the Elections. He’s Claiming To Be Brazil’s ‘Rightful’ Leader From Miami.

Flávio Bolsonaro, son of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, has repeatedly refused to concede defeat to current Brazilian President Lula, claiming that there were irregularities and fraud in Sunday's vote. In fact, he has claimed to be the country's rightful leader after arriving in Miami on Wednesday.

"On Sunday night, I watched in horror as electoral fraud unfolded before my eyes ... I want to say, not only to my 60 million voters, but to the Brazilian people, that I am the elected president and the criminals who stole the election in Brazil are part of a criminal organization that implemented a tyranny, " Bolsonaro claimed in a "letter to the Brazilian nation" posted to X on Wednesday.

"Given the political manipulation of the justice system in Brazil, I brought my family to the United States, where we are safe ... I want to make it clear: I didn't flee Brazil, I left for Brazil, I left a regime of exception so that I could be the leader my people deserve," the Brazilian politician continued.

Bolsonaro is an ally of President Donald Trump, whose administration approved a U.S. visa for the defeated candidate. The approval came as he left the country following a decision by the Brazilian Supreme Court to bar Bolsonaro from leaving amidst an ongoing investigation into potential corruption.

Bolsonaro lost the runoff election on Sunday to Lula by a margin of over four million votes. The claims of a stolen Brazilian election made by the Bolsonaro camp largely relate to an unprecedented decision made by Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Cristiano Zanin to extend the nationwide voting deadline on Sunday by two hours.

Zanin was once Lula's lawyer, which has led to Bolsonaro supporters accusing the judge of pro-Lula bias.

However, both campaigns requested an extension to voting hours, with Bolsonaro's team citing delays caused by heavy rain in southern Brazil and Lula's team arguing that a shortage of buses in São Paolo and Bahia had meant that voters could not get to polling stations on time.

Just hours after the vote, the Brazilian Supreme Court ordered Bolsonaro to hand over his passports as part of an ongoing investigation into his potential ties to a money-laundering scheme. Bolsonaro denies any allegations of wrongdoing and has not been charged.

Bolsonaro did not comply with the order to surrender his passports. Instead, he took his family over the Brazilian border with Argentina and subsequently flew to Miami via Ecuador, arriving in the South Florida city on Wednesday.

Bolsonaro then claimed in the open letter that the court's decision was politically motivated, suggesting it was "a pre-ordained plan" and a "politically motivated witch hunt aimed at holding me hostage and making me an object of blackmail to protect corrupt Supreme Court justices from impeachment."

Bolsonaro compared this "persecution" to that supposedly endured by his father Jair Bolsonaro, who is currently serving a 27-year jail sentence after being found guilty of plotting a military coup against Lula after losing the 2022 election to the left-wing politician.

Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes issued the ruling barring Bolsonaro from leaving the country. De Moraes was also the judge who oversaw the trial of Jair Bolsonaro. The open letter written by the younger Bolsonaro heavily implies that De Moraes would have been imprisoned under a Bolsonaro administration for his alleged corruption.

Reuters reported in September that the Brazilian Supreme Court had postponed a decision on whether to investigate De Moraes over potential links to a financial fraud scheme. De Moraes has denied any wrongdoing and has himself said that calls to investigate him are "politically" motivated.

Relations between Trump's U.S. and Lula's Brazil have been largely fraught with conflict; Lula has suggested that the U.S. interferes in Brazilian elections, as well as Latin American elections more generally, and Washington currently maintains a 25% tariff on most of Brasília's imports.

Bilateral relations will likely deteriorate further as a result of Bolsonaro's exile in the U.S.; Bolsonaro explicitly praised Trump's America as "a land of freedoms and brothers who share the same values ​​as the good people of my country" and thanked his administration for "welcoming us and giving us the legal security that we no longer have in Brazil."