Wire reporting: (Reuters, via Daily Maverick)

Brazilian senator Flavio Bolsonaro declared himself the country’s rightful leader on Wednesday after landing in Miami with his family, DW reported and Reuters, carried by Daily Maverick, also reported^1,3.

Bolsonaro left Brazil after the Supreme Court ordered him to surrender his passports; DW said he, his wife and two daughters arrived at Miami-Opa Locka on a Gulfstream after stops in Argentina and Guayaquil, Ecuador³.

He lost Sunday’s presidential runoff to President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. In an open letter on X he first called himself the elected president, then replaced that wording with leader, DW and Reuters reported^1,3.

In the later text he said criminals had stolen the election and established a tyranny, according to those accounts^1,3. His party has acknowledged the results, and international observers described the vote as fair, DW said³.

Electoral authority chief Kassio Nunes Marques said Wednesday the vote proceeded in accordance with Brazilian law, without addressing the letter directly^1,3.

President Donald Trump, asked at Joint Base Andrews, declined to comment on Bolsonaro’s remarks and repeated that it was a very strange election^1,3. The State Department has said it will grant visas to Bolsonaro and his family, DW reported³.

Lula’s office and the Supreme Court did not immediately comment, Reuters said; Lula had called it shameful that Bolsonaro did not stay in Brazil to defend himself¹. CBS News and BBC covered Lula’s fourth-term win in the runoff^6,8.