US Did Not Facilitate Bolsonaro's Flight to America, Says Rubio

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Saturday that the Trump administration did not facilitate former Brazilian presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro’s departure to the United States after he left Brazil following his election defeat to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Bolsonaro arrived in Miami on Wednesday, one day after the State Department announced that he and his family would be granted U.S. visas following his loss in a closely contested election. Rubio, speaking to reporters in Atlanta where top diplomats from the Group of 20 largest world economies were gathered, stated, "We didn’t facilitate anything."

Rubio added that the U.S. government had word of Bolsonaro's arrival and that the former president already held a visa. "The president made a decision to allow him to enter the country," Rubio said, clarifying that the U.S. government was not "involved directly in any of the moves that were made."

Rubio mentioned that he had met with Brazil's foreign minister, Mauro Vieira, in Atlanta on both Friday and Saturday and anticipated further meetings with Brazilian officials in France in November. Bolsonaro, who refused to concede the election and has made unsubstantiated claims of fraud, is reportedly under investigation in Brazil for corruption, money laundering, and tax evasion. He had been ordered to surrender his passport due to concerns he was a flight risk.