Flavio Bolsonaro’s great escape: Is this the beginning of the end for ‘Bolsonarism’?

A few hours after touching down in Miami on Wednesday, Flavio Bolsonaro issued a statement declaring he was the “true president” of Brazil. He claimed he had been the victim of an electoral coup staged by Brazil’s Supreme Court and President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who won last weekend’s election by more than 4 million votes. That, in Bolsonaro’s view, left him with no other choice but to flee. Read moreFlavio Bolsonaro declares himself Brazil's 'true' leader after landing in Miami According to several news outlets, the Bolsonaro family had already left Brazil on Tuesday. Their journey took them through both Argentina and Ecuador before they got on the private jet that would eventually fly them across the continent and keep the embattled far-right politician at arm’s length from Brazilian justice. A family tradition Although Bolsonaro’s whereabouts, and the destination for his escape, were initially shrouded in mystery, his ally US President Donald Trump appeared to almost have been waiting for him, greeting him with a US visa more or less the moment he arrived. Bolsonaro currently faces a string of investigations in his homeland for suspected money laundering, corruption,...