Flávio Bolsonaro left Brazil for the US despite a passport order. The State Department will issue him visas.
Defeated Brazilian presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro has left Brazil for the United States, in defiance of a Supreme Court order to surrender his passports, and the U.S. State Department said it will grant visas to him and his family.
Three sources told Reuters on Tuesday afternoon that Bolsonaro, who has yet to concede to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva after Sunday’s runoff, had left the country. One source close to the family said he landed in Florida but did not say where. The BBC reported that he arrived in the United States. “The State Department will issue visas to Flávio Bolsonaro and his family and allow them entry into the United States,” a senior State Department official said. The Washington Post reported that the visas were granted.
Bolsonaro, 45, lost the runoff to Lula by 51.8% to 48.2%. Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered him on Monday to surrender his regular and diplomatic passports to the Federal Police and barred him from leaving Brazil, as part of an investigation into alleged corruption, money laundering and tax evasion. He denies wrongdoing. Police canceled his passports on Tuesday after he missed the deadline. A police source told AFP there was no formal record of him leaving the country, and a senior Federal Police official said he had not exited through any regular migration point. How he left is not clear. Argentina’s authorities denied he entered their territory after an Argentine outlet reported he had crossed at Puerto Iguazú.
Bolsonaro’s brother Eduardo lives in self-imposed exile in Florida, and the order followed comments by Eduardo suggesting Flávio should leave Brazil if he lost, NPR reported. Their father, former President Jair Bolsonaro, is serving a 27-year sentence for attempting a coup after losing the 2022 election and went to the United States after that vote. In a video posted Monday, Flávio Bolsonaro said he never thought about leaving the country, according to NPR. His Liberal Party has since recognized Lula’s victory, though he has refused to concede and has asked for the vote to be annulled.
Lula has accused Washington of colluding with the Bolsonaros to return them to power, and Reuters reported before the election on a State Department campaign to restore them to office. President Donald Trump said Monday that the Brazilian vote looked like another rigged election. He did not mention Flávio Bolsonaro’s departure.
Information for this report was provided by Reuters, the BBC, The Washington Post, NPR, The Hill, AFP, The Associated Press and Euronews.