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

Far-right politician speaks to Conservative Political Action Conference and makes unsubstantiated claims about election fraud

Flávio 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.

On Thursday night Bolsonaro made his first major public appearance since arriving in the US, speaking at a rightwing gathering at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property where he claimed “great things” were still to come.