Rio de Janeiro, October 30, 2026

After his defeat against President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Flávio Bolsonaro declared himself the “true” and “elected” president of Brazil in an open letter.

Following his loss in the election, Flávio Bolsonaro published an open letter in which he described the result as “abhorrent electoral fraud.” He initially claimed the office of president of Brazil for himself.

He thus publicly opposed the election outcome, which was won by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. The letter was part of his response to the defeat and sparked a controversy over the legitimacy of the election result.