Flávio Bolsonaro, a former presidential candidate in Brazil who lost the election to incumbent head of state Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, after leaving for the United States, declared himself the legitimate president of the country. Later, the politician changed his wording and announced his intention to lead the Brazilian opposition from abroad. At the same time, some of his allies refused to support the allegations of election fraud.
This was reported by the Brazilian newspaper Folha de S.Paulo on October 28.
Bolsonaro published an open letter to Brazilians and the international community, in which he called himself the true elected president of Brazil. After publication, the document was edited: instead of claiming the presidency, the politician began to call himself the leader of the country.
In the letter, he claims that the election results were falsified, but provides no evidence. Bolsonaro also criticizes the Supreme Court of Brazil and calls on supporters to continue the political struggle. He stated that he will coordinate the opposition's activities from the US and will regularly address Brazilians.
Bolsonaro's allegations were not supported even by some of his political allies. Senator Rogério Marinho, who managed the politician's election campaign, admitted that his party has no grounds to claim fraud. The governor of São Paulo, Tarcísio de Freitas, also called for respect for the election results.
According to official data from Brazil's Superior Electoral Court, in the elections on October 25, Lula da Silva received 51.79% of the votes, and Bolsonaro 48.21%. The difference was over 4.4 million votes. The electoral authorities confirmed the victory of the incumbent president.
Meanwhile, Bolsonaro is in the US, where he went amid a criminal investigation. Earlier, Brazil's Supreme Court ordered the senator to surrender his passports due to the risk of flight in a case of alleged corruption and money laundering. The politician denies any wrongdoing. Despite the court ruling, he left the country via Argentina and arrived in Miami on October 28.
US President Donald Trump confirmed that the American authorities allowed Bolsonaro and his family to enter the country. At the same time, he stated that he does not intend to interfere in Brazil's internal political conflict. The question of possible political asylum for Bolsonaro remains open.
The political uncertainty arose amid significant turmoil in Brazil's financial markets after Lula's re-election. As early as October 26, before Bolsonaro's letter was published, the main stock exchange index Ibovespa plunged by 13.88%, and the Brazilian Real devalued sharply against the dollar. According to Folha de S.Paulo, foreign investors withdrew 2.8 billion reais from the country's stock market in one day.
Analysts link the market reaction primarily to concerns about the fiscal policy of Lula's new government and possible increases in public spending. Investors expect signals from the president regarding fiscal discipline and the composition of the economic team. There is no direct evidence of the impact of Bolsonaro's statements on these market indicators.
As previously reported by "Kurs Ukrainy", Lula's re-election was unexpected for some investors who had hoped for Bolsonaro's victory and stricter fiscal policies.
Based on materials from: Folha de S.Paulo, CNN Brasil, Folha
