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Brazil's election loser runs away: liar and coward
Flávio Bolsonaro's escape is an admission of guilt - he wants to save his skin. But the move could become a problem for election winner Lula. more...
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He did it again. He obviously can't help but lie. On Monday he claimed that he was not thinking about leaving his country. His departure was probably planned long ago. Now he has fled abroad less than 48 hours after his election defeat; the exact country was unclear at the time of going to press. Flávio Bolsonaro is not only a notorious liar, he is also a coward. At first he did not want to accept the election results. Then he seemed to give in and wanted to organize the opposition. And on Tuesday he was suddenly no longer there.
Flávio's escape is an indirect admission of guilt, which his cheap rhetoric about being politically persecuted cannot disguise. The losing candidate abandons party members and fans alike in order to save his own skin. In Brazil he faces a prison sentence if he loses his parliamentary immunity at the end of January. He would be welcome in the US: allies say the US government will issue him a visa.
Meanwhile, the refugee's party is trying to reorganize itself. Some may be happy about Flávio's absence, so the PL can emancipate itself from the Bolsonaro clan and there will be room for changes in leadership.
The fact that federal judge Alexandre de Moraes, of all people, banned him from leaving the country is one more reason for many on the right to call for his removal from office - the judge had once sentenced Bolsonaro's father to prison.
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It is not yet clear whether it was US Secretary of State Rubio who supported the escape. If the US government seriously commits itself to the senator, a crisis could arise before Lula's fourth term in office begins, which would not make his already difficult position easier in the face of the right-wing dominated Congress. Some fear that the loser could seek a kind of government in exile.