Flávio Bolsonaro has denied fleeing Brazil after losing the presidential election as he thanked Donald Trump after landing in the U.S. Wednesday.
Bolsonaro declared himself Brazil's rightful leader upon landing in Miami, Florida, and alleged that he was a victim of an electoral coup.
His departure followed 48 hours during which the 45-year-old senator refused to concede the election to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and threatened to seek an annulment of the election result.
"I did not flee Brazil, I left for the sake of Brazil," he said in his first statement since departure.
He added: "I left a regime of exception so that I could be the leader my people deserve."
"Silenced, imprisoned and censored like my father, I would not be able to provide that leadership, and we would be handed over to the institutional theatre of an opposition that is shackled and controlled by a Supreme Court filled with servants of the regime," Bolsonaro said.
He thanked President Trump and the "good people of America for welcoming" him. His father, Jair Bolsonaro, also fled to Florida after losing the 2022 presidential election to Lula before returning to Brazil three months later.
The U.S. announced Monday it would grant visas to the longtime Trump ally and his family.
In the initial letter addressing the people of Brazil, Bolsonaro declared himself "the elected president". He then deleted that version and updated it with another letter in which he said he was the rightful "leader" of Brazil.
Bolsonaro has repeatedly refused to concede even as Lula's victory has been recognized by Brazil's federal electoral court, global leaders, international observers, and Bolsonaro's own party.
Argentina's migration authority said Wednesday that Bolsonaro fled from Brazil through Argentina and Ecuador alongside his wife and two daughters.
He is under investigation by Brazil’s Supreme Court over alleged corruption, money laundering and tax evasion in two cases.
The court ordered him to surrender his regular and diplomatic passports by noon Tuesday, but it remains unclear if he complied, though allies stated he holds an Italian passport.
Bolsonaro claimed, "there is no arrest warrant against me because I have committed no crime". "What exists is a politically motivated witch hunt against me," he added.
Brazil's election took place in full compliance with legal and constitutional requirements, electoral authority chief Kassio Nunes Marques said in a statement, without referencing Bolsonaro's letter.
Asked by reporters at Joint Base Andrews about Bolsonaro's comments, Trump declined to comment, reiterating earlier views that it was "a very strange election". He said he thought Bolsonaro "and his family were treated very unfairly".
Bolsonaro's declaration poses a problem for Washington as it seeks to navigate a rift with Latin America's largest country, home to the world's second-largest reserves of rare earths.
Lula has accused Washington of colluding with the Bolsonaro family to help return them to power. Washington denies meddling in Brazil's domestic affairs.
Trump has previously alleged Flavio's father, Jair Bolsonaro, was a victim of judicial persecution.
Lula, who turned 81 Tuesday, addressed supporters outside the presidential residence in Brasilia before the arrival, stating he lacked detailed information on Bolsonaro’s whereabouts but confirmed he had left Brazil.
"I regret that he left Brazil, because he could have stayed here and proven that the accusations are not true," Lula said. "This act of leaving Brazil is shameful."
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