Brazil has summoned Argentina’s top diplomat in the country to answer questions about right-wing candidate Flavio Bolsonaro, who fled first to Argentina, then to the United States, after losing Sunday’s presidential election.
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who → summon → election
On Thursday, Brazil’s Foreign Ministry called in Argentina’s charge d’affaires, Maria Emilia Cortes, sources inside the government told the news agency Reuters.
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sources → call → agency
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Bolsonaro → land → it
Argentina’s Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno, however, has denied on social media that his government received a formal request for explanations regarding Bolsonaro’s decision to flee into Argentina late on Tuesday.
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government → deny → Tuesday
The circumstances surrounding Bolsonaro’s departure threaten to further strain relations between Brazil’s recently re-elected President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and his Argentinian counterpart, libertarian Javier Milei.
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circumstances → surround → President
After Sunday’s election, Bolsonaro was given a deadline to surrender his passports.
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Bolsonaro → give → passports
Officials ordered him to remain in the country as part of an ongoing legal case.
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Officials → order → case
He is part of an ongoing investigation into a money-laundering scheme, known as the Banco Master scandal.
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He → launder → scandal
Investigators are probing a multimillion-dollar payment Bolsonaro received from Banco Master’s former head, Daniel Vorcaro, allegedly to finance a film about his father, former President Jair Bolsonaro.
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Bolsonaro → probe → father
The younger Bolsonaro has denied any wrongdoing and called the case politically motivated.
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Bolsonaro → deny → case
A senator since 2019, Bolsonaro ran this year as the right-wing presidential candidate for his father’s political movement, the Liberal Party.
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Bolsonaro → run → movement
But after advancing to the run-off, the senator fell short by more than 4 million votes.
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senator → advance → votes
Lula won Sunday’s race with 51.8 percent of the vote, securing a historic fourth non-consecutive term.
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Lula → win → term
Bolsonaro, however, has refused to concede, though the Liberal Party has acknowledged Lula’s victory.
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Party → refuse → victory
Instead, he made an unsubstantiated allegation of electoral malfeasance, pointing to a Supreme Court decision to extend voting hours on Sunday.
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he → make → Sunday
Both candidates’ campaigns had requested extensions, though for different reasons: Bolsonaro’s camp pointed to inclement weather delaying voters in parts of Brazil, while Lula’s party raised concerns about efforts to restrict public transport on election day.
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party → request → day
But Bolsonaro argued that the last-minute extension had disadvantaged voters in regions considered right-wing strongholds.
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extension → argue → regions
After arriving in Miami on Wednesday, he declared himself the “legitimate president-elect” of Brazil.
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himself → arrive → Brazil
He, his wife and two daughters had travelled from Brazil through northern Argentina, before boarding a chartered aircraft that passed through Ecuador to reach the US.
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that → travel → US
The Brazilian senator later thanked Milei for his assistance, although he did not provide details about the nature of the help.
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he → thank → help
A spokesperson for the Argentinian president described the journey as a rescue.
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spokesperson → describe → rescue
Bolsonaro, the spokesperson said, had escaped “from the claws of communism, which seeks to imprison all opposition figures”.
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which → say → figures
Trump, too, has suggested that Sunday’s election was “rigged”, though he declined to “take sides” after the result was announced.
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result → suggest → sides
The US president has previously issued sanctions and tariffs in response to the prosecution of Jair Bolsonaro, after the former Brazilian president denied his defeat in the 2022 election.
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president → issue → election
He was convicted in 2024 of plotting a coup to prevent Lula from taking power and sentenced to 27 years in prison.
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He → convict → prison
Relations between Lula and Milei have been strained since the Argentinian leader took office in 2023.
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leader → strain → 2023
Milei has repeatedly criticised Lula.
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Milei → criticise → Lula
The diplomatic dispute follows an earlier deterioration in relations, with the South American countries each recalling their ambassadors in August after a series of public disagreements.
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countries → follow → disagreements
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