Reports: Flavio Bolsonaro Flees Brazil to Seek Political Asylum in US
Would a U.S. asylum be a safe harbor from persecution or a reward for impunity?
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Above: Flávio Bolsonaro in Brasília on Oct. 25. Image credit: Ton Molina/Getty Images
The Facts
- Brazil's defeated opposition presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro left the country for the United States on Tuesday, two days after the presidential runoff, multiple news outlets said.
- Reports add that he intends to request political asylum upon his arrival on U.S. soil and that the Donald Trump administration has been informed. On Monday, Trump told reporters the Brazilian election looked "rigged" but suggested he would not intervene in the matter.
- Argentine outlet Infobae broke the news, saying that Bolsonaro had crossed into Argentina at Puerto Iguazú to board a private jet bound for the U.S. Later, Argentine authorities said there was no record of his entry, and reports suggested he could have crossed into Paraguay instead.
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The Spin
Pro-Trump narrative
A travel ban with no criminal charge anywhere in sight is political persecution. It's unacceptable for a real democracy to answer a narrow, conceded loss like this. For Flávio Bolsonaro, the U.S. is the obvious safe harbor from authoritarian authorities that have consistently censored critics, jailed opponents and treated exit bans as leverage.
Anti-Trump narrative
Large-scale corruption charges against Bolsonaro turn asylum talk into cover for a getaway, and his departure right after electoral defeat shows dread of accountability, instead of a solid persecution claim. If the U.S. grants him official hospitality, the Trump administration will reward impunity for a foreign fugitive while detaining U.S. citizens.
