Flávio Bolsonaro battles to remain relevant as he speaks at rightwing conference at Mar-a-Lago

Flávio Bolsonaro speaking to the press in Brazil after losing the presidential election last month, shortly before he fled to the US. Photograph: Xinhua/ShutterstockView image in fullscreenFlávio Bolsonaro speaking to the press in Brazil after losing the presidential election last month, shortly before he fled to the US.

Fotografia: Xinhua/Shutterstock Flávio Bolsonaro luta para permanecer relevante enquanto fala na conferência de direita em Mar-a-Lago. Político de extrema-direita faz discurso na Conferência de Ação Política Conservadora e faz alegações não fundamentadas sobre fraude eleitoral.

Prefer the Guardian on GoogleFlávio Bolsonaro, the far-right politician who lost Brazil’s presidential election last month, has insisted his defeat is not “the end for Brazil” as he battles to maintain political relevance after fleeing to the US.

Bolsonaro absconded early last week shortly after losing the 25 October election to the leftwing incumbent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva by more than 4m votes.

Na noite de quinta-feira, Bolsonaro fez sua primeira grande aparição pública desde que chegou aos EUA, falando em um encontro de direita na propriedade Mar-a-Lago de Donald Trump, onde ele afirmou que “great things” ainda estavam por vir.

View image in fullscreenFlávio Bolsonaro arriving in Miami after fleeing Brazil last week. Photograph: Marta Lavandier/AP“I know this wasn’t the end for Brazil and I know it wasn’t the end for America,” Bolsonaro, 45, told a gala dinner at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC)’s four-day “gathering of visionaries” event, where the former British prime minister Liz Truss is also due to speak.

Mais cedo, em sua primeira entrevista pós-eleitoral, Bolsonaro fez uma série de alegações infundadas sobre fraude eleitoral e insistiu que recebeu “help from absolutely no one” para fugir.

He said he would “take to the grave” the full story of how he had fled Brazil, where he faces federal police investigations for money laundering and corruption.

Bolsonaro é um membro do Congresso que ocupa cargo eletivo há mais de 20 anos, mas perderá a imunidade parlamentar no início do próximo ano, quando seu mandato terminar, o que significa que ele poderá ser processado depois.

Thomas Traumann, an author and pundit for the TV network GloboNews, said: “Flávio was foolish enough to throw away the leadership of the opposition that he could have exercised had he stayed in Brazil.

But the [Bolsonaro] family is still a player.”.

Flávio Bolsonaro’s brother, the former congressman Eduardo Bolsonaro, also lives in self-imposed exile in the US and will have to serve a four-year sentence for coercion if he returns to Brazil.

Four other members of the Bolsonaro family were elected to congress in last month’s election, including their brothers Carlos and Jair Renan and stepmother, Michelle Bolsonaro.

View image in fullscreenMichelle Bolsonaro, the former first lady of Brazil, was elected to congress last month along with three other members of the Bolsonaro family.

Fotografia: André Penner/APTraumann acreditava que não era inconcebível que Jair Bolsonaro tentasse um retorno político se conseguisse negociar a saída da sua sentença de 27 anos de prisão por conspiração de golpe após perder a eleição de 2022 para Lula.

However, as things stand, the 71-year-old is banned from running for office until 2060 and must live under house arrest.

Many doubt the Bolsonaro family can continue to control Bolsonarismo, the populist political movement that takes their name, with two key members in exile and one imprisoned.

Abranches disse que os políticos de direita democrática agora tinham a chance de “detach” deles do movimento anti-democrático dos Bolsonaros’ e se afastar em uma nova direção antes da próxima eleição presidencial em 2030.

Flávio Bolsonaro told the New York Times he would “obviously” be a candidate in future elections but said his future lay in the US “at least for now”.

View image in fullscreenA campaign rally for Flávio Bolsonaro shortly before the presidential election runoff last month. Photograph: Raquel Cunha/ReutersIt is unclear where Flávio Bolsonaro, who has been granted a US visa by Trump, will live.

His brother Eduardo set up home in Southlake, Texas, after leaving Brazil last year – although some expect him to move after the traditionally conservative state elected the Democrat Gina Hinojosa as governor in this week’s midterms.

Em um vídeo publicado nas redes sociais do CPAC antes do evento de quinta-feira, Eduardo Bolsonaro minimizou o risco que o “blue tsunami” representa para a capacidade deles de permanecer nos EUA.

Likening their plight to that of a female asylum seeker fleeing Iran for fear of being killed after refusing to wear a hijab, he added: “I am 100% legal – as is my brother and his family.”.