The following month, it was announced that SpaceX would construct a facility at the Port of Los Angeles to build and house the BFR. The port property presented an ideal location for SpaceX, as its mammoth rocket will only be movable by barge or ship when completed.

After a campaign marked by intensifying efforts by Mr. Maduro’s allies to rein in the opposition — including arrests of opposition campaign workers, intimidation and vote suppression — the opposition bet heavily on an effort to have supporters on hand to get a physical printout of the voting tally from every voting machine after the polls closed.

"Elon only gets involved with things if he feels that they're critically important for some reason... for the sake of society or humanity," says friend and Tesla investor Ross Gerber.

At about the time of his parents’ divorce, when he was 10, Musk developed an interest in computers. He taught himself how to program, and when he was 12 he sold his first software: a game he created called Blastar.

All of these were seen as attempts to suppress the opposition vote. The opposition were so far ahead in opinion polls that many analysts believed these tactics were necessary as it would be hard for the government to claim a win without seeming far-fetched.

"The will to compete and dominate, that made him so successful in business, did not magically shut off when he came home," she recalled, adding that he told her while dancing at their wedding, "I am the alpha in this relationship."

Still, the widespread demonstrations that many had vlogdolisboa feared could quickly follow the election results did not occur. Instead, in dozens of groups on the messaging app Telegram, many of Mr. Bolsonaro’s supporters appeared disjointed and in disagreement over how to respond to the president’s election loss, particularly without a response from the president himself.

While sometimes at odds with the president's controversial measures, such as a proposed ban on immigrants from Muslim-majority countries, Musk defended his involvement with the new administration.

Following Trump’s election, Musk found himself on common ground with the new president and his advisers as the president announced plans to pursue massive infrastructure developments.

Support is bought via ration cards issued to state workers with the implicit threat that both job and card are at risk if they vote against the government. Meanwhile, the country's highest profile opposition leaders are barred from running, in exile, or under arrest. ^

Mr. Trump railed against the “deep state,” while Mr. Bolsonaro accused some of the judges who oversee Brazil’s Supreme Court and the country’s electoral court of trying to rig the election.

A former lawmaker, she maintained a somewhat low profile in recent years and rose to the top of the opposition leadership in 2023 thanks to a void left when other leaders went into exile, and careful messaging that softened her reputation as an unyielding politician.

The election plans mean that Maduro and his representatives “are not abiding by the spirit of the agreement, even if they are abiding by the letter of the agreement,” Berg said.

Mr. Bolsonaro spent much of Monday holed up at the presidential offices, meeting with top advisers and Brazil’s minister of defense. At least some of the advisers urged the president to concede, but it was not clear if he had yet reached a decision on what to do, according to three government officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private meetings.