US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has denied that President Donald Trump’s administration helped Flavio Bolsonaro leave Brazil for the United States after his presidential election defeat. Speaking to reporters in Atlanta, Georgia, on Saturday, Rubio said Washington had not directly participated in the arrangements that brought Bolsonaro to the country.
Bolsonaro reached Miami, Florida, on Wednesday after losing the October 25 run-off election to President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. His defeat ran counter to a series of conservative election victories in Latin America. On Tuesday, the US Department of State had announced that Bolsonaro and his family would receive US visas.
Before his departure, Bolsonaro had been ordered to hand over his passport after police assessed that he posed a flight risk. He is being investigated in Brazil over allegations of corruption, money laundering and tax evasion. His route to the United States took him through Argentina and Ecuador.
Some US media reports said Jason Miller, a White House official, had helped arrange part of the journey. Rubio rejected suggestions of US assistance, telling reporters, “We didn’t facilitate anything.” He said officials had received word of Bolsonaro’s arrival, that Bolsonaro had previously held a visa and that Trump had decided to permit his entry.
Trump separately expressed support for Bolsonaro on Saturday, saying the Brazilian politician could stay in the United States for as long as he wished. Speaking at his Florida residence, the president said Bolsonaro had been treated “very shabbily”. Trump had previously described Brazil’s election as “rigged”.
Reuters reported that Bolsonaro entered the United States through humanitarian parole, a status that generally lasts one year. Trump’s statement that he could remain indefinitely suggested that tensions between the Western Hemisphere’s two largest democracies could persist.
Bolsonaro has not conceded the election. He has alleged fraud in the results without presenting evidence and, since reaching the United States, has portrayed himself as Brazil’s true “leader”. He has also said he departed because he faced “persecution”.
Rubio made his remarks while diplomats from the Group of 20 largest economies were meeting in Atlanta. He said he had seen Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira there on both Friday and Saturday. Rubio also said he expected further contact with Brazilian officials at a foreign ministers meeting in France in November.
