Brazilians in Miami, torn over Flávio Bolsonaro’s presence: ‘I feel helpless’
Both conservative and leftist supporters were surprised by the right-wing candidate’s decision to flee to the US after losing the presidential runoff on Sunday
The news that Flávio Bolsonaro had arrived at Opa-Locka airport Wednesday morning left Luciana Ferri in shock for several reasons. First: “What kind of political figure does Bolsonaro want to be, even for his own voters, if he’s so cowardly as to skip the country and say: ‘I will not submit to the country’s judicial system, I was only a presidential candidate’?” And second: “Many immigrants here in the United States face fear and uncertainty because of aggressive law enforcement, and suddenly someone with political connections, an ally of President Trump, shows up and is welcomed with open arms.”
Ferri is a 61-year-old Brazilian lawyer who has lived in Miami Beach for 17 years, and she is the only person in her family who did not vote for the right-wing candidate in Brazil’s presidential runoff held this Sunday. She also did not relish the idea of choosing President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva for a fourth term, but when she filled out the ballot she felt she had no other option.
“Lula is not perfect, he’s too old and a fourth term seems excessive to me. He was also involved in corruption cases and his situation is practically the same as the Bolsonaros’ [Flávio and his father, Jair, both subject to judicial investigations]. But at least Lula has shown more respect for democratic principles,” Ferri told EL PAÍS a couple of hours after she learned of the Brazilian politician’s arrival, to whom the United States granted last-minute visas on Tuesday.
Flávio Bolsonaro arrived on a private flight, accompanied by his wife and daughters. On election night he said he did not recognize the results and that he would ask for the process to be annulled due to alleged fraud. On Monday, President Trump echoed his claim, but that same day Bolsonaro withdrew his request and said he would lead the opposition in Brazil. Then, on Tuesday, he fled to the United States via Argentina, stopping in Ecuador, and hours after landing in Miami he declared himself the “leader” of his country in a letter posted on social media.
“If the Bolsonaros were in charge in Brazil, it would be a victory for [Donald] Trump and I think the whole world would lose out,” Ferri added.
When she went to vote on Sunday at a polling place on the Miami Dade College campus in Kendall, she ran into Flávio Bolsonaro’s own brother, Eduardo (who is based in Texas) who was greeting people and taking selfies with a handful of Bolsonaro supporters. She took the chance to photograph him and sent the picture to the family WhatsApp group.
Bruno Baiao, who is also a Brazilian immigrant in Miami and does identify as a Bolsonaro supporter, had mixed feelings upon learning that his candidate had left Brazil: “He made that decision for his own safety because he was in danger and everything happened very quickly, but I feel disappointed because he was the strongest figure in the opposition to Lula’s government. On the one hand it’s good because he’s protected here, but on the other hand I think his party loses strength by not having him present.”
Baiao has lived in Miami for 15 years and works as a real estate agent in North Beach, a coastal area with large Brazilian and Argentine communities. He believes Sunday’s electoral process was “a fraud”: “I feel helpless, that’s the feeling I have as a Brazilian citizen. We needed change and they took away our chance to have a new government.”
Joseph Lima, a 25-year-old who is also from the North Beach area, was getting ready to open the Brazilian restaurant where he works when he learned that Flávio Bolsonaro had arrived in Miami. He voted for Lula on Sunday but the idea that Bolsonaro came to the United States seeking refuge does not entirely bother him, as long as he does not get involved in politics.
“He’s never had a job, he has never worked in his entire life, so he wouldn’t have been a good president,” Lima says, and asks to finish the interview quickly because he still has to prepare the dining room and customers are about to arrive.
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