India, Oct. 31 -- Defeated Brazilian presidential candidate Flavio Bolsonaro, in his first statement explaining his decision to leave Brazil, said he was the "victim" of persecution in his country.

"The persecution began even sooner than I imagined," the Brazilian senator said during a livestream on Instagram, in which he spoke about is decision to leave the country after he lost the presidential election. After arriving in Florida on Wednesday (October 29) this week, Bolsonaro had on issued a statement saying he is the "elected president" of Brazil.

The 45-year-old lost to Lula da Silva in the October 25 elections in Brazil by over 4 million votes. Silva, who won a historic fourth term as president, secured 51.75 per cent of the vote. ...