Key facts
- Flavio Bolsonaro told Reuters he is ready to stand for the Liberal Party in Brazil's next presidential race.
- He rejected the 'runaway' label used by critics, saying he is convinced he needed to be in Washington.
- A Quaest poll showed 62% of Brazilians disapproved of his leaving Brazil after the runoff.
- He said he has not decided whether he and his family will remain in Florida.
- Bolsonaro declined to say which US officials he was meeting or who arranged his travel.
Flavio Bolsonaro, son of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, gave a 50-minute interview to Reuters in Washington on Thursday, his first visit to the US capital since losing Brazil's presidential runoff to Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. He rejected critics, including Lula, who call him a runaway for leaving Brazil after the vote. "That is a pejorative way of trying to attack me," he said. "Honestly, I couldn't care less. I am convinced that I needed to be here."
A Quaest opinion poll showed 62% of Brazilians disapproved of his leaving the country after the runoff. The senator said he was ready to stand for the Liberal Party in the next race, which he argued might come sooner than expected, and said, "If a new electoral race emerges, I am ready to return." He offered few details about his standing in the party.
Bolsonaro said he believed economic problems would cut short Lula's fourth term. "Brazil is going to go broke," he said, claiming families were struggling with too much debt and businesses were unwilling to invest in a country with what he called an unfair legal system. He accused the justice system of being in thrall to the government without citing evidence.
Brazil's Supreme Court had ordered him to surrender his passport before he left the country, citing federal money-laundering investigations and concerns he might flee. He traveled with his family to the US via Argentina and Ecuador. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on October 31 that Washington had not been directly involved in Bolsonaro's departure, while Reuters and other outlets reported that Jason Miller, a White House official, helped arrange the journey. Bolsonaro declined to discuss his flight.
He said he had not met President Donald Trump since arriving in Florida and was grateful to Trump, who declared on October 31 that the senator could stay in the US as long as he wanted. Bolsonaro said Trump may have had a preference but took no action to influence Brazil's election results, which outside observers have described as free and fair. He said he had not decided whether he and his family would remain in Florida.