Former President Jair Bolsonaro chose his son Flávio as his presidential candidate for 2026.

Brazilian senator Flávio Bolsonaro officially announced his presidential candidacy for the 2026 elections this Friday, aiming to remove socialist dictator Lula da Silva from power.

The announcement confirms that he will be the one to attempt to lead the Brazilian right-wing project in place of his father, former president Jair Bolsonaro, who is currently banned after being convicted and imprisoned amid a process of political persecution.

The confirmation, published on social network X, marks the end of weeks of speculation within the Liberal Party (PL), a force that had avoided publicly defining who would assume electoral leadership given the disqualification of the former president.

With the message shared by his eldest son, it became clear that the chosen option came directly from Jair Bolsonaro himself, who continues serving a 27-year sentence handed down by a court whose judges maintain close ties with dictator Lula.

Flávio Bolsonaro's announcement

"With great responsibility, I confirm the decision of Brazil's greatest political and moral leader, Jair Messias Bolsonaro, to entrust me with the mission of continuing our national project," the senator stated in his post. The phrase reflected both the symbolic weight he attributes to his father and the intention to keep the Bolsonarist base united behind his figure.

In his statement, Flávio Bolsonaro adopted a confrontational tone toward Lula da Silva's dictatorship, accusing it of worsening living conditions and destroying democratic institutions.

"I will not stand idly by watching as families' hope fades and our democracy collapses," he asserted. In this context, he targeted the government for "robbing retirees," allowing the strengthening of drug trafficking, and tolerating a setback in opportunities for youth and a "plundering of state-owned companies."

The senator also described a critical economic outlook and expressed concern about the country's fiscal direction: "Our country is going through difficult days, in which many feel abandoned (...), new taxes are constantly being created or increased, and our children have no prospects for the future."

Flávio ended his message with a spiritual invocation and a public commitment: "I stand before God and before Brazil to fulfill this mission. I know He will go before us, opening doors, tearing down walls, and guiding every step of this journey."

With this announcement, the candidacies of Michelle Bolsonaro, wife of the former president, and Tarcísio de Freitas, governor of São Paulo, are ruled out, as Bolsonaro was not sure he would pardon him if he won the presidency.

With this announcement, the presidential race is formally opened within the country's most influential right-wing space, while the figure of former president Bolsonaro continues to loom over Brazilian politics even from outside the electoral competition.