On 28 October, US President Donald Trump stated at Andrews Air Force Base that he had no intention of interfering in the situation in Brazil following the election.
“I won’t comment on that, but I know we allowed him [former Brazilian presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro – ed.] to enter the country. We’ll see. But I won’t be interfering. The election was very strange — that’s for sure,” Trump replied to journalists when asked about the statement made by his Brazilian political ally.
Earlier, on 28 October, Flávio Bolsonaro described himself as the true leader of Brazil. This came after his defeat in the election and his departure for the US.
The plane carrying Bolsonaro, his wife and two daughters landed at Opa-Locka Airport near Miami, Florida. This airport is used exclusively by US border and customs services.
For more than a day, the whereabouts of Bolsonaro and his family remained unknown. There were unconfirmed reports that they had flown to one of the countries in Latin America.
Bolsonaro is likely afraid to remain in Brazil, where he is suspected of corruption and money laundering. The politician denies the allegations. On Monday, 26 October, the Brazilian Supreme Court ordered him to hand over his passports to the police within 24 hours. Bolsonaro failed to do so, whereupon the police revoked his documents.
Brazil is also investigating possible corruption in the funding of a film about Flávio Bolsonaro’s father — former President Jair Bolsonaro. He stands accused of plotting a coup d’état and has been placed under house arrest. Furthermore, on Tuesday, the Brazilian Supreme Court instructed the police to investigate Flávio Bolsonaro’s election campaign for possible foreign funding.
On Sunday, 25 October, the 45-year-old senator lost the presidential election: in the second round, he was defeated by Lula da Silva, although many had expected a victory for Bolsonaro, who had been leading after the first round. Lula received 51.79 per cent of the vote, whilst Bolsonaro received 48.21 per cent. The Liberal Party, represented by Bolsonaro, acknowledged da Silva’s victory; however, the former candidate himself refused to accept the results and called for the election to be annulled.