Flāviu Bolsonaru, right-wing politician who lost the second round of Brazil’s presidential election, has left the country despite a travel ban and an order to surrender his passports (Diena). He was defeated by left-wing politician Luiss Ināsiu Lula da Silva (Lula), who won the Sunday runoff with 51,79% of the vote compared to 48,21% for Bolsonaru.
Following the election, American media and the US State Department confirmed that Bolsonaru, along with his wife and two daughters, arrived at an airport near Miami in the United States. Argentinian authorities reported that he had arrived in their country across the land border on Tuesday evening and departed for Ecuador on a private jet, though Argentinian security and immigration authorities subsequently denied these reports.
Authorities Revoke Passports After Election Defeat
Bolsonaru refused to accept his defeat, pointing to a two-hour extension of polling station operating hours and demanding the annulment of the results. Experts noted that both candidate parties had requested the extension. While his Liberal Party later accepted the results, authorities stated that the deadline for surrendering his passports had expired, leading to their annulment (TVNET). Bolsonaru stated on Instagram that the order to surrender his passports followed comments made by his brother, Eduardu Bolsonaru, on a United States podcast two days prior to the election, where Eduardu stated: Je mans brālis neuzvarēs, es atbalstu to, ka viņš pamet valsti.
Politician Faces Imminent Legal Jeopardy
The 45-year-old politician faces impending legal jeopardy as he is set to lose his parliamentary immunity when his term as senator ends in January (LSM). Authorities have linked him to investigations regarding money laundering through a sports betting enterprise and a corruption probe concerning the financing of a biographical film about his father, former president Žairu Bolsonaru, titled “Tumšais zirdziņš”.
President Lula condemned the departure, stating: Personai, kura izlavās no savas valsts, ir kaut kas slēpjams.
Šādi pamest Brazīliju ir kaunpilni.
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