Trump says Flávio Bolsonaro can stay in the U.S. "for as long as he wants"

Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Trump spoke to reporters about Flávio Bolsonaro during a Halloween party at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida. Author, NewsroomAuthor's title, BBC News MundoPublication date 31 minutesReading time: 3 min The President of the United States, Donald Trump, said that the Brazilian senator Flávio Bolsonaro can stay in the United States "for as long as he wants". In statements to the press this Saturday from his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, in the middle of a Halloween celebration party, Trump told reporters that he does not plan to meet with the former presidential candidate, the Reuters news agency reported. Bolsonaro fled to the United States after losing his country's presidential election to the left-wing leader Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Earlier on Saturday, the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, said that the United States did not provide any assistance to Bolsonaro to leave Brazil. The senator, defeated in the presidential elections, landed on a private jet in Miami on the morning of Wednesday, October 28. According to Rubio, President Trump made the decision to grant Bolsonaro a "parole", an authorization for provisional entry into US territory, different from the conventional immigration admission mechanisms of the country. "The United States government did not participate in any of the procedures he carried out to leave [Brazil]," Rubio said. "We did not facilitate anything." Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Flávio Bolsonaro landed with his wife and daughters at a Miami airport. Bolsonaro's departure from Brazil Flávio Bolsonaro landed at Opa-locka airport, in the Miami metropolitan area, three days after the runoff of the presidential elections, in which Lula was victorious. Skip Most read and continue readingMost readEnd of Most read The departure came after Supreme Federal Court (STF) Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered the seizure of the senator's passports and prohibited him from leaving the country. Because of his status as a senator, Bolsonaro, in addition to an ordinary passport, has a diplomatic one. The deadline for him to hand over the documents ended at around 12:00 noon on Tuesday, October 27. He currently has two ongoing investigations: one examines possible irregularities in the transfer of almost US$70 million from Banco Master for the production of the film Dark Horse, a tribute to his father, former president Jair Bolsonaro. Another inquiry pursues an alleged money laundering scheme in collaboration with the lawyer Willer Tomáz. For his part, Lula criticized his rival's decision to leave the country and said the senator should have stayed to answer the accusations: "He who has nothing to hide has nothing to fear." The 45-year-old politician arrived on a private aircraft from Guayaquil, Ecuador, at 09:25 local time (13:25 GMT) at Opa-locka Executive Airport, in the Miami metropolitan area. According to the records of the aircraft operated by the executive airline Baires Fly, the Gulfstream G400 had previously flown from Puerto Iguazú, an Argentine city on the border with Brazil, to Guayaquil late on Tuesday. Bolsonaro left Brazil accompanied by three people through the border with Argentina in Puerto Iguazú at almost midnight on Tuesday, according to the Argentine National Directorate of Migration (DNM). He was accompanied by his wife Fernanda Bolsonaro, as well as his daughters Carolina and Luiza, and would have presented "valid travel documentation without any impediment" to enter the South American country. "For its part, at 23:30, the incoming group boarded a private flight dispatched by the company Baires Fly S.A. bound for the city of Guayaquil, Ecuador, as reported in the flight plan," the Argentine National Directorate of Migration reported. In press images at Opa-locka airport, Bolsonaro could be seen getting off the aircraft with his family. Several members of the Bolsonaro family currently live in the United States, including his brother Eduardo, who was sentenced in Brazil to four years in prison for a case of coercion. Download the new BBC World Service app. Choose BBC News Mundo and receive news alerts, documentaries and analysis, all in one place. Important: the new app is not available in the United Kingdom or the United States. You can also follow us on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, X and our WhatsApp channel. And don't forget to subscribe here to our newsletter to receive a special selection of our best content every Friday. Discover moreSkip Video and continue readingVideoEnd of Video