{"text":[[{"start":9.24,"text":"Flávio Bolsonaro released an inflammatory open letter on Wednesday claiming fraud in Sunday’s presidential election in Brazil, just hours after he arrived in the US in breach of a travel ban."}],[{"start":19.44,"text":"Providing no evidence that the election result had been manipulated, Bolsonaro issued a statement that initially described himself as the “true president-elect” before being changed to “the leader of Brazil”."}],[{"start":32.92,"text":"Bolsonaro landed in Miami on Wednesday morning with his family after a 24-hour covert journey via Argentina and Ecuador. He said he had been forced to leave Brazil because he was a victim of political persecution."}],[{"start":45.72,"text":"However, Bolsonaro’s claims about the election were immediately disowned by some of his closest political allies."}],[{"start":52.52,"text":"Rogério Marinho, a leading senator in his Liberal party who co-ordinated his campaign, said there was “no evidence” of fraud in the election and that Bolsonaro was “extremely shaken up” by the surprise victory in Sunday’s run-off by incumbent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva."}],[{"start":68.92,"text":"Asked to comment about Bolsonaro’s claim, US President Donald Trump said the election on Sunday had been “very strange” but added that “I am not going to get involved”."}],[{"start":78.72,"text":"Bolsonaro lost Sunday’s run-off to Lula by 52 per cent to 48 per cent after opinion polls had made him the clear favourite."}],[{"start":86.92,"text":"The following day police instructed him to hand over his passports, claiming he could be a flight risk as they continued two investigations into alleged corruption and money laundering involving Bolsonaro and others. He denies any wrongdoing."}],[{"start":100.96,"text":"Last year, his father Jair Bolsonaro was jailed for 27 years for planning a coup after losing to Lula in the 2022 presidential election. Flávio Bolsonaro had said one of his priorities if elected would be to secure a pardon for his father."}],[{"start":115.44,"text":"Bolsonaro, his wife and two daughters disembarked a private jet in Miami on Wednesday morning after the Trump administration said it would grant them visas."}],[{"start":123.52,"text":"In his letter published later in the day, Bolsonaro singled out a controversial decision by a Supreme Court judge, who was formerly Lula’s personal lawyer, to extend voting hours by two hours in Sunday’s election."}],[{"start":136.2,"text":"The move upheld a request by Lula’s Workers’ Party following complaints about issues with public transport in several states. Bolsonaro’s Liberal Party had also requested longer polling times in areas hit by heavy rains."}],[{"start":149.76,"text":"Bolsonaro called the decision to extend voting hours “illegitimate and unlawful” and claimed that it enabled Lula to achieve a “mathematical impossibility” of receiving 10mn more votes between the first and second rounds. But he offered no evidence or details of the alleged fraud."}],[{"start":166.52,"text":"Data from Brazil’s electoral court showed that only about 34,000 people cast ballots following the extension of voting times. Lula won the contest by a margin of 4.4mn votes."}],[{"start":178.56,"text":"Kassio Nunes Marques, head of the electoral court, said problems with public transport and the extension of voting hours had not affected the result when he declared Lula the winner on Sunday evening. Nunes Marques is also a judge on the Supreme Court, where he was nominated by Jair Bolsonaro."}],[{"start":195.66,"text":"On Wednesday, Nunes Marques released a statement saying that the election process had been “completely normal” and that “voters had legitimately chosen their representatives”."}],[{"start":204.86,"text":"In his letter, Bolsonaro said the order issued shortly after the election that he surrender his passport was “political persecution”."}],[{"start":212.4,"text":"His decision to flee Brazil could endanger his family’s dominance over rightwing politics in Latin America’s largest democracy."}],[{"start":219.76,"text":"His father is under house arrest in Brasília, while his younger brother, Eduardo Bolsonaro, is living in self-imposed exile in Texas and was convicted this year of interfering in his father’s trial."}],[{"start":231.44,"text":"In his letter, Bolsonaro likened himself to political dissidents such as Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, who returned to the country on Sunday after a year in exile."}],[{"start":242.34,"text":"“Charles de Gaulle led Free France from London, sentenced to death by the Vichy regime, and returned to liberate his country. José Martí organised the struggle for Cuba’s independence from New York,” he wrote."}],[{"start":260.78,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1793253231_9538.mp3"}