Flávio Bolsonaro Flees Brazil for Florida After Court Seizes Passports
The defeated presidential candidate landed near Miami hours after Argentina said he crossed its border, as Lula mocked the departure of a man with 'nothing to hide.'
Flávio Bolsonaro, the conservative politician who lost Brazil's presidential runoff on Sunday, arrived with his family at Opa-locka Airport near Miami early Wednesday. It was his first public appearance since he posted a video on social media on Monday, and uniformed officers carrying large umbrellas shielded the family from reporters as they walked to a waiting vehicle.
Earlier Wednesday, Argentina's migration authority said on X that Bolsonaro, his wife Fernanda Antunes Figueira Bolsonaro and their daughters had crossed from Brazil into Argentina late Tuesday through the Tancredo Neves International Bridge in the province of Misiones. The statement said they entered with valid travel documents and "without any legal impediment." At 11:30 p.m., it added, the group boarded a private flight bound for Guayaquil, Ecuador, according to the flight plan.
Bolsonaro lost to incumbent President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva by more than four million votes, three weeks after winning the first round. His Liberal Party has since recognized Lula's victory, but Bolsonaro himself has refused to concede.
On Monday, Brazil's Supreme Court ordered him to surrender his passports within 24 hours and barred him from leaving the country. He faces multiple investigations in Brazil, including allegations of money laundering and tax evasion, which he denies. In a video released that day, he said federal police officers had stopped him outside the home of his father, former President Jair Bolsonaro, and ordered him to hand over his passports.
"I never thought about leaving the country," Bolsonaro said in the video. "I will hand over my passports and defend myself against this aberration." He described the order as an attempt to intimidate him. By Tuesday, Brazilian media were reporting that he had left for the United States, while his campaign manager, his lawyer and other allies said they did not know where he was.
Jair Bolsonaro, the former president, is under house arrest after being sentenced to 27 years in prison for plotting a coup following his own defeat by Lula in the 2022 election.
The U.S. role has added a diplomatic edge. On Tuesday, a senior Trump administration official said the State Department would issue visas to Bolsonaro and his family, allowing them to enter the United States. President Donald Trump has repeatedly cast doubt on Lula's victory, suggesting on Monday that the election was "rigged" without offering evidence. He returned to the subject at a campaign rally in Texas on Tuesday night, accusing Democrats of election fraud and saying of Brazil, "I didn't take sides, but it didn't look very good."
Lula criticized the departure during celebrations of his 81st birthday in Brasília on Tuesday. "Those who have nothing to hide have nothing to fear," he told supporters. "He could have stayed and proven that the accusations are not true." Lula also pointed to the Bolsonaro family's ties to the Trump administration. "Brazil is their second home," he said. "Their first home is the United States."
Whether Brazilian prosecutors will seek his return, and how Washington would respond, remains unclear. For now, the loser of Brazil's most closely watched election in years is in Florida, and the investigations he left behind are still open.
