Brazilian Senator Flávio Bolsonaro announced Wednesday, October 28, that he is the rightful president-elect of Brazil, following his controversial defeat in the October 25 presidential runoff.
In an open letter shared by allies after his arrival in the United States, he addressed the Brazilian people and the international community as “the true elected president of Brazil.” He thanked Argentine President Javier Milei for his “courage, sense of justice and legality” and U.S. President Donald Trump along with the American people for welcoming him.
Bolsonaro, the son of former President Jair Bolsonaro and a candidate for the Liberal Party, lost to incumbent President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. The result has been highly scrutinized due to a controversial court order — which was issued unilaterally by a justice who used to work as Lula’s personal attorney — that extended voting times by two hours.
A number of polling locations had closed and were unable to re-open following the order, which was made after the 5 p.m. Brasilia time deadline.
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CARTA À NAÇÃO BRASILEIRA 🇧🇷
28.10.26 pic.twitter.com/QqOGZuF8G0— Flávio Bolsonaro (@FlavioBolsonaro) October 28, 2026
In the letter, Bolsonaro wrote that on election night he “watched in horror as electoral fraud unfolded right before my eyes.” He pointed to the decision by Supreme Court Justice Cristiano Zanin, a former lawyer for Lula, as a primary point of contention.
Bolsonaro stated that the response to his questioning came quickly. “As in a previously prepared plan, seven minutes after this repugnant electoral fraud,” a judge “implicated in an immense corruption scandal” and “directly cited in the inquiry that used to try to seize my passports” initiated proceedings against him. He denied committing any crime and said no arrest warrant exists against him, characterizing the actions as a “politically motivated witch hunt” intended to hold him hostage and shield Supreme Court justices from impeachment.
“I want to make this clear: I did not flee Brazil,” Bolsonaro wrote. “I left for Brazil’s sake. I left a state of exception so that I could be the leader my people deserve.” He said remaining silent, imprisoned, or censored like his father would prevent him from providing free leadership against what he called an institutionalized opposition controlled by the Court.
Bolsonaro compared his situation to historical figures including Rui Barbosa, Charles de Gaulle, José Martí, Juan Guaidó, and María Corina Machado, noting that those who opposed regimes from abroad were treated as criminals at the time but later viewed differently by history. He pledged to lead the opposition from the United States, address Brazilians regularly, and present a strategy using “all peaceful and legitimate means” to prevent Lula from consolidating what he termed a dictatorial regime.
He also urged the international community not to normalize events in Brazil.
Bolsonaro and his family arrived in the United States on Wednesday following the election result. They landed at Opa-locka Executive Airport near Miami after traveling from Brazil via Argentina and Ecuador. His wife and two daughters accompanied him.
The departure occurred after he did not comply with a Supreme Federal Court order to surrender his regular and diplomatic passports in connection with a money-laundering investigation, which he has denied. U.S. authorities issued visas to Bolsonaro and his family, with the Trump administration confirming approval for their entry.
