BRASILIA
\nBrazil\u2019s outgoing President Jair Bolsonaro has left the country, two days before his successor\u2019s inauguration and shortly after bidding his followers a tearful farewell.
\nThe controversial far-right leader, who has not acknowledged his electoral defeat, left for the US state of Florida on Friday on an air force plane, according to several news outlets.
\n\u201cI am flying, I\u2019ll be back soon,\u201d media reported Bolsonaro as saying.
\nHe will miss Sunday\u2019s swearing-in ceremony and will not transfer the presidential sash to leftist President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, as is the tradition.
\nHis vice president, Hamilton Mourao, is now acting president and will give a national address on Saturday, according to the RNR public broadcaster.
\nEarlier on Friday, Bolsonaro assured supporters in a live broadcast on social media that \u201cwe will not see the world end on January 1\u201d when Lula takes up the presidential mantle.
\n\u201cWe have a great future ahead,\u201d the outgoing president declared, adding: \u201cBattles are lost, but we will not lose the war.\u201d
\nIt was Bolsonaro\u2019s first live address since his narrow October defeat, after which the active social media user fell uncharacteristically silent.
\nLula had won the election with 50.9 percent of the vote to Bolsonaro\u2019s 49.1 percent.
\nLula had also served as Brazil\u2019s president from 2003 to 2011.
\nAddressing hundreds of followers who continue to protest outside military installations in Brasilia and other cities demanding the army intervene to stop Lula\u2019s ascension, Bolsonaro said he had given his best.
\n\u201cI never expected to get here,\u201d he said, in tears.
\nAccording to a majority of analysts, Bolsonaro leaves behind a poor record that includes environmental destruction and Covid-19 chaos.
\nThe outgoing leader also spoke for the first time Friday about a failed bomb attack in Brasilia a week ago by a man who said he was a Bolsonaro supporter seeking to sow \u201cchaos\u201d ahead of Lula\u2019s inauguration.
\n\u201cNothing justifies this attempt at terrorism,\u201d Bolsonaro said. The failed attempt with explosives placed in a fuel truck, as well as acts of vandalism carried out by other Bolsonaro fans, prompted authorities to deploy an unprecedented security contingent for Sunday\u2019s swearing in. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
BRASILIA Brazil\u2019s outgoing President Jair Bolsonaro has left the country, two days before his successor\u2019s inauguration and shortly after bidding his followers a tearful farewell. The controversial far-right leader, who has not acknowledged his electoral defeat, left for the US state of Florida on Friday on an air force plane, according to several news outlets. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":304725,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-304695","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n