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Brazilian senator Flavio Bolsonaro travelled to the United States days after losing the presidential election to incumbent President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, several sources familiar with the matter said, according to AnewZ.
Bolsonaro did not comply with a Supreme Court order requiring him to surrender his passports as part of an ongoing money laundering investigation. He denies any wrongdoing.
The sources said the senator travelled with his wife and two daughters. His exact whereabouts are unknown, but a person close to the family said Bolsonaro had arrived in Florida. A senior US State Department official said Washington would issue entry visas to Bolsonaro and his family.
Supreme Federal Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered Bolsonaro to surrender his passports within 24 hours. The order was issued as part of an investigation into suspected money laundering and foreign-exchange violations involving financial transactions connected to lawyer Viller Tomaz, who is associated with the senator.
The senator is also being investigated separately over the financing of “Dark Horse,” a film about the life of his father, former President Jair Bolsonaro. Authorities are examining suspected payments involving Daniel Vorcaro, the former owner of the now-defunct financial institution Banco Master.
The court order cited concerns that Bolsonaro might flee the country and his significant financial resources. Bolsonaro said on Monday that he had no intention of leaving Brazil: “I have never considered leaving the country. I will surrender my passports and defend myself against this fraud, which is nothing more than an attempt to intimidate me.”
Two sources familiar with the case said the deadline for surrendering the passports expired without Bolsonaro complying, after which his ordinary and diplomatic passports were revoked.
Bolsonaro’s route out of Brazil under investigation
Reports about Bolsonaro emerged on Tuesday. Brazilian newspaper Globo, citing sources, said he had left the country with his family. Argentine media reported that the senator may have planned to cross into Argentina by land using his national identity card, then board a private plane bound for Miami.
Attention has focused on an Argentina-registered Gulfstream G400 that landed in Puerto Iguazu, near the Brazilian border. The aircraft was reported to be headed to the United States but remained on the ground before its scheduled departure.
Argentine migration authorities later said there was no record of Bolsonaro entering the country. They also said no flight plan had been filed listing his family members among the passengers.
Brazil’s Federal Police also said there was no official record of Bolsonaro’s departure and began examining border-crossing and flight data to establish how he may have left. Brazilian and Argentine officials are trying to determine whether the senator crossed the border and, if so, which route he took.
Lula criticizes Bolsonaro’s departure
President Lula reacted sharply to reports that Bolsonaro had left the country. Speaking in Brasilia, Brazil’s capital, he said his defeated rival should have stayed in the country and answered the allegations against him.
“That is how the Bolsonaro family is. Brazil is their second country; their first country is the United States,” Lula said. He added: “I regret his leaving Brazil. He could have stayed and proved that the allegations were not true.”
Lula made the remarks as Bolsonaro continued to challenge the election result, despite his party formally recognizing Lula’s victory. Lula won Sunday’s runoff, securing a fourth presidential term after a break in office. Official results gave Lula about 51.8% of valid votes and Bolsonaro about 48.2%.
Bolsonaro has not accepted his defeat. He has alleged irregularities in the electoral process and said he would seek to overturn the vote through legal channels: “Under these conditions, it is impossible to recognize the election. I will demand that it be annulled.”
His position puts him at odds with his own party. On Monday, the Liberal Party (PL) formally recognized Lula’s victory. Party chairman Valdemar Costa Neto said it accepted the results certified by Brazil’s electoral authorities, while continuing to raise concerns about pre-election government spending through institutional channels. The statement did not support Bolsonaro’s call to invalidate the election.
Kassio Nunes Marques, appointed to the Supreme Court by Jair Bolsonaro and head of the Superior Electoral Court, expressed confidence in the integrity of the electoral process and rejected allegations of irregularities in the voting system.
The latest developments have recalled events after the 2022 presidential election. Jair Bolsonaro travelled to the United States after losing to Lula and initially refusing to recognize the result. The former president later returned to Brazil and was sentenced to 27 years in prison in a case linked to an alleged coup plot following his 2022 election defeat. He is currently serving his sentence under house arrest.
Flavio Bolsonaro’s departure comes as attention has again turned to relations between Brazil and the United States following the election. US President Donald Trump questioned the conduct of Sunday’s vote, saying without presenting evidence that it appeared “rigged” and “corrupt.”
“Elections should be beyond dispute, and this looked very bad to me,” Trump told reporters. He also said he had a good personal relationship with Lula: “I don’t run Brazil, I run the United States. I like Lula. I get along with him very well.”
Bolsonaro’s location has not been officially confirmed. Authorities are investigating how he left Brazil.
