Rubio denies direct US role in Flávio Bolsonaro’s departure from Brazil

Speaking after a G20 meeting in Atlanta on 31 October, Rubio said: “We didn’t facilitate anything.” He added that the US government had not been directly involved in the arrangements Bolsonaro made to leave Brazil.

Bolsonaro, a Brazilian senator, arrived in Miami on 28 October after losing the presidential election to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Brazil’s Supreme Court had ordered him to surrender his passports and barred him from leaving the country.

The New York Times, in a report published by Folha de S.Paulo, cited a person familiar with the logistics as saying that White House communications official Jason Miller had arranged the private jet. The newspaper said Miller declined to comment.

The Wall Street Journal reported that a small group including Miller worked with Bolsonaro’s brother Eduardo to secure a charter jet. It remains unclear whether Miller was acting on behalf of, or at the direction of, the US government.

Rubio distinguished the travel arrangements from Bolsonaro’s admission to the US. He said Trump had decided Bolsonaro would be allowed into the country on temporary parole if he arrived at a port of entry, and that this had happened. Rubio also said Bolsonaro had previously held a US visa.