MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

“I did my best,” says Bolsonaro before flying to the US

Effective Jan. 1, Bolsonaro will no longer have legal immunity

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro Friday said goodbye to his supporters in tears during a live stream on social media before leaving for the United States.

”The world will not end on January 1 (...) We have a great future ahead of us. Battles are lost, but we will not lose wars,“ he underlined. At around 2 pm, he boarded a Brazilian Air Force aircraft to the United States with his wife and eight officials of his choice who will become members of the permanent security team to which all former presidents are entitled.

Bolsonaro is expected to stay for at least one month in Orlando, Florida, ”I'm already airborne, I'll be back as soon as possible,“ Bolsonaro told CNN Brazil. He thus confirmed he will not be attending Luiz Inàcio Lula da Silva's inauguration on Jan. 1.

Vice President Hamilton Mourao also confirmed Bolsonaro's departure as he was taking over as acting chief executive until midnight Saturday, Dec. 31. He also said he did not plan to participate in Sunday's ceremonies with the Workers' Party leader.

After Bolsonaro's flight, his followers, who had camped in front of Army barracks calling for an uprising, also chose to leave, while outside the Alvorada residence, two demonstrators watching the live broadcast on their cell phones insulted him with shouts of ”coward“ and ”shameless,“ according to AFP.

”Some must be criticizing me, saying that I could have done this or that (...) I cannot do something that is not well done, without the collateral effects being too harmful,“ Bolsonaro insisted. ”I never expected to get there,“ Bolsonaro said meanwhile, in tears. ”At the very least, we put back four years the sinking of Brazil in this nefarious ideology that is the left (...). I did my best,“ he added.

Effective Jan. 1, Bolsonaro will no longer have legal immunity and he is involved in a series of investigations for which he could face jail time.

Regarding some of his followers' plan to blow up a bomb near Brasilia's airport to trigger a military coup, which was thwarted by the police last week, Bolsonaro underlined that ”nothing justifies that attempted terrorist act.”