Status: 12/31/2022 7:21 am
Shortly before taking office, Brazilian President Bolsonaro left the country and traveled to Florida. With a video message he said goodbye to his disappointed followers.
Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro left the country a few days before the end of his term in office. He was on his way to Florida, it said in the official gazette. According to websites for tracking flight routes, a military plane took off at around 2:00 p.m. (local time) in the capital Brasilia, bound for Orlando. A number of cabinet members and government officials were allowed to accompany “the future ex-president” to Miami between January 1 and 30 to give him “advice, security and personal support,” the official gazette said.
Further evidence of Bolsonaro’s departure was a statement from Vice President Hamilton Mourão’s office that he was now acting head of state. Official business is handed over to the deputy when a Brazilian president travels abroad.
Who hands over the presidential sash?
Next Sunday, left-wing ex-president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will be sworn in as the new head of state. By leaving the country, Bolsonaro is breaking with the custom that an outgoing president should be present at the inauguration of his successor. It is now unclear who is to hand over the presidential sash to Lula. According to Mourão’s press office, this is not one of his duties.
Bolsonaro’s employees, who are still entitled to him after the end of his term of office and who are paid with tax money, had a trip to the United States approved for the whole of January. Bolsonaro was accompanied by his wife Michelle and their daughter Laura. According to media reports, his two adult sons Flavio and Carlos are already in Florida.
Farewell video message
Since his defeat by Lula in the runoff election for the highest office at the end of October, Bolsonaro has hardly been heard from. However, a few hours before his departure, he turned to his compatriots via social media. He was unable to find a legal way or get enough support to change the course of history, Bolsonaro said in the video message with regard to his deselection. He seemed to be fighting back tears. “How difficult it was to stay still for two months, to work to find alternatives,” Bolsonaro explained. “If you’re angry, put yourself in my shoes. I gave my life for this country.”
Bolsonaro also condemned a previous bomb threat in the capital. It’s not the time to attack other people. Rather, his supporters should try to build an opposition to the future government. “We lost a battle, but we will not lose the war,” he said. “The world doesn’t end on January 1st.”
Disappointment among followers
In the pouring rain, a crowd of Bolsonaro supporters waited in front of the presidential palace, hoping for a sign from their president. His farewell message then triggered disappointment among many. “Traitor” and “coward,” some shouted. A woman burst into tears.
Since his defeat, some supporters of the outgoing head of state have camped outside military installations and called on the armed forces to intervene to keep him in power. Others blocked roads and highways, set buses and trucks on fire. Investigators are also looking into an attempted storming of the National Police headquarters in Brasilia in December. Most of the 32 suspects in the case had had contact with the Bolsonaro camp, officials said. Many of his supporters still believe that the election results cannot be trusted. You speak of fraud.