- A flee in the ear - 30th October 2026
- Radio wails - 30th October 2026
- A tight budget - 28th October 2026
During a 43 year career as a journalist for our Editor Phil Parry, getting to the bottom of mysteries has always been central, and this is now underlined by the extraordinary news that the defeated right wing candidate in Brazil’s election (Flávio Bolsonaro), appears to have fled the country, but still calls himself the “leader of Brazil” even though he lost!
The best mysteries are the ones which people simply cannot solve.
In my journalistic career there have been lots of them.
WHY did a factory put everyone on the dole when the firm had a full order book?
WHY did a conman fleece lots of people when he was already rich?
WHY did police officers behave in the way they did, putting an innocent person behind bars, when they must have known he didn’t do it?
The answers could only ever be guesses.
Perhaps the factory owner was aware of financial problems coming down the line.
Maybe the conman just enjoyed fleecing victims for the thrill of it.
Possibly those bent police officers just wanted to sort out their clear-up rate.
All of this is emphasised by the bizarre events surrounding the defeated right wing candidate in Brazil’s election (Flávio Bolsonaro), who appears to have fled the country to Miami, but still calls himself the “leader of Brazil”.
It is not clear where Mr Bolsonaro intends to stay or for how long, and the official opposition in Brazil say they have lost their “captain”.
Mr Bolsonaro trailed his left-wing rival, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (known simply as ‘Lula’), in the run-off on Sunday, by a difference of 4.4 million votes, but (like Donald Trump after he was defeated by Joe Biden) has not admitted that he lost.
The Trump administration has provided visas for Mr Bolsonaro and his family, but did not say what kind of visas they were.
The US President had declared that “it looked like another rigged election”, without providing any evidence.
On Thursday, Mr Trump told reporters that “the election was a very great embarrassment to the people of Brazil”.
Mr Bolsonaro published a letter on social media making his feelings clear
In the letter, Mr Bolsonaro alleges (like Mr Trump offering NO evidence), that he was the victim of “electoral fraud” and says that he will lead the opposition from the US.
He left Brazil on Tuesday after failing to comply with an order to surrender his passports, a decision which Lula described as “a shameful act”.
Mr Bolsonaro started his letter, which he posted on his X account, saying “I address the Brazilian people and the international community as the leader of Brazil”.
However, he had posted a previous version, that was later deleted, in which he wrote: “I address the Brazilian people and the international community as the rightful president of Brazil“.
Both versions repeat the allegation Mr Bolsonaro first made on election night, that an extension of polling hours on Sunday had benefited his rival, and in the letter, he says it was “an electoral fraud unfolding before my eyes”.
The extension was requested by both Lula’s and Mr Bolsonaro’s campaign teams because of bad weather, and the head of Brazil’s electoral authority has said that the vote proceeded normally, in full accordance with the country’s laws and constitution..
In his letter, Mr Bolsonaro also addresses his departure from Brazil – which caused confusion after he disappeared for more than 24 hours.
It later emerged that he had gone across the land border to Argentina, and from there flew on to Florida, following a brief refuelling stop in Ecuador.
He has not been charged as part of a money laundering probe and denies any wrongdoing, calling the investigation a “politically-motivated witch hunt”.
Mr Bolsonaro has added that he had never intended to leave Brazil, but argued that he was the victim of “political persecution”, and ended the letter by saying: “I left Brazil but I haven’t abandoned Brazilians”.
There is also no evidence when it comes to trying to establish motive. Sometimes you just have to surmise…
