U.S.A. denies making it easy for Flávio Bolsonaro to leave Miami

O u.S. chief of diplomacy today denied that the U.S. government facilitated the exit of Brazil from Flavio Bolsonaro, who fled to Miami after losing the presidential elections and when it was investigated for corruption.

“We did not participate in any of the preparations he made to leave. At least the US Government was not directly involved in any of these movements.”, replied Marco Rubio at the final press conference of the meeting of the G20 Foreign Ministers held in Atlanta.

The US Secretary of State added that Bolsonaro already had a U.S. visa and that the only decision made by American President Donald Trump was to authorize his entry into the country.

“The President made it clear that if he arrived at a U.S. port of entry, he would be allowed to enter the country through a temporary entry permit, and so it was,” he said.

The former presidential candidate, his wife and two daughters crossed the border from Brazil to Argentina and boarded a private plane in Puerto Iguazú. After a stopover in Guayaquil (Ecuador), they landed in Miami on Wednesday.

According to sources quoted by The New York Times, Jason Miller, one of Trump's advisors, would have managed the private plane on which the Bolsonaro family traveled.

The episode increased tension between the Trump administration and the government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who defeated Bolsonaro in the second round of the presidential elections last Sunday.

During today's meeting in Atlanta, Rubio met with Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira for the first time since Bolsonaro arrived in the United States.

Rubio confirmed that he had an opportunity to speak with Vieira and said that they will certainly see each other again in November during the G7 summit in France.