Flavio Bolsonaro reportedly left Brazil for the United States after losing the presidential runoff, Reuters reported on Tuesday, Oct. 27. A source close to the family told Reuters that Bolsonaro had arrived in Florida, although his exact whereabouts, and those of his wife and two daughters, were not confirmed in the reports. A senior United States State Department official told Reuters that Washington would issue visas to Bolsonaro and his family members and allow them to enter the United States.
The official said: “The State Department will issue visas to Flavio Bolsonaro and his family and allow them entry into the United States.” The statement came two days after the runoff on Sunday, Oct. 25, in which incumbent President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva defeated Bolsonaro by more than 4.4 million votes, according to reports of the result. Bolsonaro, a senator and the son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, has not conceded defeat.
Flavio Bolsonaro and the passport order
Flavio Bolsonaro faced a court order to hand over his passports before the reported departure. Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered on Sunday night that Flavio Bolsonaro surrender his passports, and federal police served the order on Monday, giving him 24 hours to comply. The order was part of a money laundering investigation into the senator and his friend, the lawyer Willer Tomaz, linked to Tomaz’s companies and the betting sector in Rio de Janeiro, according to Reuters.
Flavio Bolsonaro reported arrival in Florida
Reports of the arrival in Florida differed in detail, and no report reviewed so far included on the record confirmation from Brazilian or United States authorities of his exact location. Bloomberg reported that Flavio Bolsonaro had landed in the United States, while other reports had yet to independently confirm his arrival. Brazilian outlet Bahia Noticias reported that he arrived at around 4:20 p.m. accompanied by his wife, Fernanda, and their two daughters, and that Secretary of State Marco Rubio was involved in facilitating his departure.
How Flavio Bolsonaro left Brazil remained unclear in the reports. A senior Federal Police official said he had not exited the country through any regular migration point, and police had no formal record of him leaving the country, according to Agencia Brasil. Argentine news outlet Infobae had earlier reported that he left Brazil through Argentina, but the Argentine government said it had “no record of Bolsonaro entering” the country. Brazilian federal police were seeking to establish with Argentine authorities whether he entered Argentina.
Flavio Bolsonaro and the election result
Flavio Bolsonaro was favoured to win Sunday’s presidential election but lost in a result described in reports as a shock. He has yet to officially concede defeat, saying on Sunday he would seek the annulment of the result over alleged voter irregularities. His Liberal Party said on Monday it acknowledged Lula’s victory, a statement that sat alongside his own refusal to concede.