Defeated Brazilian Candidate Flávio Bolsonaro Lands in Miami on U.S. Visas After Brazil Cancelled His Passports

Brazilian Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro, who lost Brazil's presidential runoff on Sunday, arrived in Miami on Wednesday after days of confusion about his whereabouts, the BBC reported.

"I did not flee Brazil; I left for the sake of Brazil," he said in his first statement since leaving. "It was never my intention to leave my homeland, but I know exactly where this is heading. I departed from a regime of exception so that I could become the leader my people deserve." He called himself a victim of a coup and political persecution, said he traveled to protect his family, and repeated unsubstantiated allegations of "electoral fraud."

The United States provided visas to him and his family after Brazil cancelled his passports as part of a criminal investigation, the BBC reported. Bolsonaro denies wrongdoing. "We gave him a pass to come into the country," President Donald Trump told reporters. Trump declined to discuss the fraud claims, saying, "I won't get involved. It was a very strange election, that's for sure," and adding that he thought Bolsonaro "and his family were treated very unfairly."

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, newly re-elected, criticized the secretive exit: "Those who have nothing to hide have nothing to fear."

The sequence began when Bolsonaro failed to surrender his passports within a 24-hour deadline on Tuesday. Authorities cancelled them and ordered checks at border posts. An Argentine news site reported he had crossed into Argentina and boarded a private plane; Brazilian police found no evidence he had left, and Argentine officials said they had no record of him crossing. His lawyers said they did not know where he was. On Tuesday evening, sources told the BBC he was headed to the U.S., and he was seen getting off a plane in Miami Wednesday morning, where he joined his younger brother, Eduardo. In his statement he thanked the presidents of Argentina and the United States.

Bolsonaro, the son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, won the first round. Lula won the runoff by more than four million votes, a margin attributed to higher turnout and undecided voters. The result was confirmed by the president of Brazil's top electoral court, who was appointed by Jair Bolsonaro, the BBC noted.

Unanswered: what the criminal investigation alleges, whether Brazil will seek his return, and how long the U.S. visas allow him to stay.