SAO PAULO — Brazil’s vice president’s office says he has become interim president, an indication that President Jair Bolsonaro has left the country. An official document says that Bolsonaro could go to Florida, in the United States.
Left-wing president-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will take office on Sunday.
The press office of Bolsonaro’s vice president, General Hamilton Mourão, confirmed that he was acting as president. That would happen while Bolsonaro was traveling, meaning he would skip the inauguration in a break with Brazilian tradition.
Brazil’s official gazette says several officials were given permission to accompany the “future former president” to Miami between January 1 and 30, to offer him “advice, security and personal support.”
According to flight tracking websites, the official plane of the Armed Forces left the capital, Brasília, around 2 pm Eastern time.