Brazilian Senator Flávio Bolsonaro declared himself the "leader of Brazil" on Wednesday, despite losing Sunday's presidential runoff to incumbent President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, as he arrived in the United States amid a criminal investigation in his home country.
The 45-year-old senator landed in Miami on Wednesday morning after traveling from Argentina aboard a private jet. He thanked US President Donald Trump and "the wonderful American people for welcoming me".
In an open letter distributed to journalists by his allies, Bolsonaro accused Brazilian authorities of conducting a "politically-motivated witch-hunt, intended to hold me hostage".
"Faced with the politicization of the justice system in Brazil, I brought my family to the United States," the right-wing senator wrote, according to Reuters.
Bolsonaro rejected suggestions that he had fled Brazil, maintaining that he had left "so I could be the leader my people deserve".
He also pledged to "lead the opposition from here".
The letter initially described Bolsonaro as "president-elect of Brazil", despite his electoral defeat. He subsequently deleted the document from social media and published a revised version identifying himself as the "leader of Brazil".
Bolsonaro has refused to concede Sunday's election and has threatened to seek the annulment of the results.
His departure came after Brazil's Supreme Court ordered him to surrender his passports to federal police as part of an investigation into alleged money laundering. Bolsonaro has denied the allegations.
According to Argentina's migration department, Bolsonaro and his family entered Argentina through the Tancredo Neves International Bridge border crossing before boarding a private aircraft bound for Ecuador.
Brazilian newspaper O Globo reported that the senator appeared "distraught and fearful" of being arrested after it became apparent that he had lost the election.
Lula, responding to reports that his opponent had departed Brazil, described the situation as "shameful".
Bolsonaro's departure drew comparisons with the actions of his father, former President Jair Bolsonaro, who traveled to Florida after losing the 2022 presidential election to Lula. The elder Bolsonaro is now serving a prison sentence.
Sunday's runoff delivered a surprise victory for Lula, who secured an unprecedented fourth presidential term despite trailing Bolsonaro in the first round of voting earlier this month.
With nearly all votes tallied, Brazil's electoral court reported that Lula had received 51.79% of the vote, compared with 48.21% for Bolsonaro.
The result represented a significant reversal from the first round, when Bolsonaro finished approximately 2.2 million votes ahead of the incumbent.
Bolsonaro challenged the runoff results after a Supreme Court judge extended voting hours by two hours. He called the extension "unacceptable" and demanded that the election results be annulled.
Beyond their competing visions for Brazil's domestic policies, the two candidates have expressed markedly different positions on Israel and its counterterrorism campaign against Hamas.
During a visit to Israel in January, Bolsonaro visited the Western Wall and several locations in Judea and Samaria, while pledging to move Brazil's embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem if elected president.
“It is an honor to defend Judeo-Christian values and to show the Jewish people that the Brazilian people support them," Bolsonaro said during the visit.
His father also maintained close ties with Israel, including a visit to the country in March 2019 while serving as president.
Lula, meanwhile, has repeatedly drawn criticism from Israel over his statements concerning the war against Hamas in Gaza.
The Brazilian president previously compared Israel's operations in Gaza to the Nazi persecution of Jews under Adolf Hitler during World War II, triggering a diplomatic dispute between Jerusalem and Brasília.
Amid the confrontation Brazil announced that it was recalling its ambassador to Israel and summoning the Israeli ambassador for a reprimand.
Despite the diplomatic fallout, Lula continued to accuse Israel of committing genocide in Gaza.
“What the Israeli government is doing is not war, it is genocide. Children and women are being murdered," he wrote on social media.