The office of Brazil’s vice president says he has become acting president, an indication that Jair Bolsonaro has left the country.

An official document says Mr Bolsonaro may be headed to Florida.

Mr Bolsonaro’s political nemesis, leftist president-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, is to be inaugurated on Sunday. The press office of Mr Bolsonaro’s Vice-President, Gen Hamilton Mourao, confirmed he was acting as president.

That would happen while Mr Bolsonaro was traveling, meaning that 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 ex-president” to Miami between January 1 and January 30, to offer “advice, security and personal support”.

According to flight tracking websites, the Armed Forces’ official plane left the capital, Brasilia, around 2pm local time for Orlando, Florida.