Flavio Bolsonaro Flees to Miami as Brazil Court Seeks Passports

Flavio Bolsonaro, the defeated Brazilian presidential candidate, landed in Miami on Wednesday morning after leaving the country. He arrived with his wife and two daughters at Miami Opa Locka Executive Airport around 9:30 a.m. Eastern Time. The 45-year-old senator had refused to concede the election to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Bolsonaro departed Brazil late Tuesday. Argentine immigration officials stated that the family entered the country through a border checkpoint and quickly boarded a private charter plane. Flight data from Flightradar24 indicates the aircraft landed in Guayaquil, Ecuador, at approximately 4 a.m. local time before taking off for Florida. A Brazilian diplomat told the Associated Press that Bolsonaro used an Italian passport to cross into Argentina.

The Trump administration approved U.S. visas for Bolsonaro and his family this week. President Donald Trump described the group as fine people and said they were welcome in the United States. Trump also claimed the Brazilian election was rigged, a statement he made without presenting new evidence. He told reporters at Joint Base Andrews on Tuesday that the election process was terrible.

Lula, who turned 81 on Tuesday, reacted to the departure from the presidential residence in Brasilia. He told supporters that he regretted Bolsonaro leaving because he could have stayed to prove the accusations were false. Lula called the act of leaving Brazil shameful. The President won the runoff election on Sunday by a margin of about 4.4 million votes.

Brazil’s Supreme Court is investigating Bolsonaro for corruption, money laundering, and tax evasion. The court ordered him to hand over his regular and diplomatic passports by noon on Tuesday. It remains unclear if he complied with that specific order, though allies indicated he held an Italian passport. In one case, prosecutors allege he used a sports betting company to launder fraudulent deductions from government pensions. In another, he faces accusations of accepting millions of dollars from a banker.

The route taken by Bolsonaro may strain relations between Brazil and Argentina. Argentine President Javier Milei, a Trump ally, has not commented directly on the defeat. However, presidential spokesperson Juan Pablo Carreira stated on social media that Milei’s administration rescued Bolsonaro from the claws of communism. Brazil’s government representatives have not responded to requests for comment regarding the incident.

Jair Bolsonaro, Flavio’s father, also fled to Florida after losing the 2022 election to Lula. He returned to Brazil three months later. Former President Jair Bolsonaro is currently serving a 27-year sentence under house arrest for an attempted coup. Flavio Bolsonaro visited his father before leaving the country. His term as a senator is scheduled to expire on January 31, 2027.

The United States has imposed double-digit sanctions on Brazil, the largest economy in Latin America. Lula’s government has focused on nonalignment, deepening trade ties with China and seeking influence through the BRICS group of emerging economies. Leaders around the world and the Organization of American States have endorsed the election result.