Brazil's Bolsonaro shrugs off fugitive label, eyes future Brazil presidential bid

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WASHINGTON, Nov 13 - On his first visit to Washington since losing a presidential election, Flavio Bolsonaro brushed aside doubts about his grip on Brazil's political right and…

WASHINGTON, Nov 13 - On his first visit to Washington since losing a presidential election, Flavio Bolsonaro brushed aside doubts about his grip on Brazil's political right and said he was ready to stand for the Liberal Party in the next race, which he argued might come sooner than expected.

Speaking to Reuters on Thursday between meetings to sort out his US immigration status, Bolsonaro rejected critics -- including reelected President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva -- who brand him a runaway for making a dash to the US after last month's vote.

"That is a pejorative way of trying to attack me," he said. "Honestly, I couldn't care less. I am convinced that I needed to be here."

A Quaest opinion poll showed 62% of Brazilians disapproved of him leaving the country after the runoff, which Lula won by a margin of more than 4 million votes.

The senator, who was expected to see US officials in Washington, declined to say with whom he was meeting.

The son of former President Jair Bolsonaro -- who is serving a 27-year sentence for a coup plot after he lost the 2022 election -- said he believes economic problems will cut short Lula's fourth term.

"Brazil is going to go broke," he said, claiming families were struggling with too much debt and businesses were unwilling to invest in a country with what he said was an unfair legal system.

Bolsonaro offered few details about his standing in the right-wing Liberal Party, but said he intended to run under its banner again.

Before fleeing the country, he alleged without evidence that the election had been fraudulent, despite the electoral court declaring Lula the winner. His political allies have also conceded the result.

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