Flavio Bolsonaro says he is the rightful winner of the election. “The election was stolen right before our very eyes,” said Bolsonaro from US soil. He has the support of Trump.
– “I address the Brazilian people and the international community as Brazil’s rightful president-elect,” he said in a statement, according to the Reuters news agency.
– “On Sunday evening, I was horrified to see electoral fraud taking place right before my very eyes,” Bolsonaro continued.
Many were puzzled when polling stations suddenly had their opening hours extended by two hours. This is unheard of and has never happened before.
However, NTB reports matter-of-factly that Lula won.
They suggest that he is following in his father’s footsteps.
His father, Jair Bolsonaro, refused to concede defeat in 2022 and is now serving a 27-year prison sentence for the attempted coup that followed. Jair Bolsonaro travelled to Florida in the US following his defeat.
Bolsonaro kept a low profile whilst he was on Brazilian soil. But now he is speaking out.
“I would like to thank President Trump and the wonderful American people for welcoming me,” Bolsonaro goes on to say in the statement.
Bolsonaro claims he is the victim of a politically motivated witch-hunt and says he will continue to lead the opposition from the US.
There are clear parallels between the coup attempt against Trump on 6 January 2021 and the charges against Jair Bolsonaro. The storming of the Brazilian National Congress had the air of an operetta.
Bolsonaro faces serious charges. What NTB fails to mention is that Lula played a central role in the biggest corruption scandal in Brazil’s history. He was acquitted on a technicality.
Bolsonaro left Brazil after refusing to comply with an order from the country’s Supreme Court to hand over his passports. The order relates to an investigation into possible money laundering, a charge which Bolsonaro denies.
Bolsonaro was already under investigation for alleged corruption linked to the financing of a film about his father.
A separate investigation concerns alleged links to a Brazilian lawyer accused of laundering over 1 billion dollars through a fraud scheme.
Foreign fundingEarlier this month, the police stated that they had uncovered evidence that Bolsonaro had access to bank accounts belonging to a company owned by the lawyer.
Bolsonaro has denied having any business dealings with the lawyer and has described the seizure of his passport as an attempt to intimidate him, according to the BBC.
Brazil’s Supreme Court has also this week asked the police to investigate Bolsonaro’s election campaign following allegations of foreign funding. (NTB)
