By Fernando Cardoso and Luciana Magalhaes
SAO PAULO, Oct 28 (Reuters) - Brazilian Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, who arrived in the United States on Wednesday, has declared himself the rightful president-elect of Brazil, alleging his victory had been denied by an electoral coup d'etat by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and the country's Supreme Court.
Bolsonaro, who lost Sunday's presidential election and left Brazil for Miami, where he and his family received US visas, thanked US President Donald Trump and Argentine leader Javier Milei for helping him leave his country and for welcoming him.
"I want to say, not only to my 60 million voters but to the Brazilian people, that I am the elected president and that the criminals who stole Brazil’s election are part of a criminal organization that has established a tyranny," he said in an open letter shared with journalists by his allies.
There was no immediate response from the White House or US State Department.
Bolsonaro did not provide evidence for the alleged electoral fraud. International observers have found Sunday's vote fair.
Bolsonaro and his family arrived in Miami on Wednesday, leaving Brazil after he refused to comply with a Brazilian Supreme Court order to surrender his passports. He left under a shroud of secrecy after the court order, which relates to a money-laundering investigation in which he denies wrongdoing.
Neither Lula's office, the federal electoral court nor the Supreme Court immediately responded to requests for comment.
Lula, who was himself jailed on corruption charges that were later overturned, said this week that it was "shameful" Bolsonaro had not stayed in Brazil to prove his innocence.
In his letter, Bolsonaro denied fleeing Brazil, saying he had left to protect himself and his family, and avoid being the victim of a witch hunt he accused Lula and the Brazilian Supreme Court of carrying out.
"I want to make this clear: I did not flee Brazil," he said. "I left Brazil, but I did not abandon the Brazilian people."
Bolsonaro based his rejection of the result on the fact that a Lula-appointed Supreme Court justice had extended voting by two hours on Sunday due to Lula campaign allegations of voter suppression in left-leaning northeastern states. However, Bolsonaro's campaign also sought an extension due to rains in conservative-leaning southern states.
Bolsonaro lost to Lula by around 4.5 million votes. Fewer than 35,000 votes, or some 0.03% of the total, were cast in the extra two hours of voting ordered by the Supreme Court, according to an analysis of electoral records by Insper professor Pedro Burgos.
(Reporting by Gabriel Stargardter, Additional reporting by Alexandra Valencia in Quito, Gabriel Araujo in Sao Paulo, Maximilian Heath in Buenos Aires, Eva Marie Uzcategui in MiamiEditing by Ros Russell, Franklin Paul and Aurora Ellis)
