Election Loser Flavio Bolsonaro Reportedly Escapes to US Amid Criminal Probes in Brazil

Brazilian Senator Flavio Bolsonaro has left the country for the United States after losing Sunday’s presidential election, Folha de S.Paulo and Reuters reported, citing sources close to the senator, as investigations into him continue.

A senior US State Department official told Reuters and other news agencies that the department would issue visas for Bolsonaro and his family to enter the United States.

Leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Tuesday that Bolsonaro had departed Brazil, although he did not know the senator’s exact location. Speaking to supporters outside the presidential residence in Brasilia, Lula referred to the United States as the Bolsonaro family’s second country.

“The first is licking American boots,” Lula said. The reelected president added, “Those who are not liable do not fear. A fellow that secretly leaves his country, that's because he is liable for something.”

The Supreme Court had ordered Bolsonaro, the eldest son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, to surrender his passports to prevent him from leaving Brazil while investigations into the senator were underway.

Reports differed on whether Bolsonaro had refused to comply with the order. The AFP news agency quoted a police official as saying his passports had been canceled and that there was no official record of his departure from Brazil.

Folha de S.Paulo reported that the senator’s plane was scheduled to land in either Miami or Dallas. Argentina’s Infobae reported earlier that Bolsonaro had crossed into Argentina before boarding a private flight to the United States. However, a spokesperson for Argentina’s Ministry of Security denied reports that the conservative senator had entered the country. Earlier reports in Brazilian media said federal police were still looking for him.

Bolsonaro lost Sunday’s presidential runoff after a closely contested vote count throughout the evening, before Lula moved ahead. Bolsonaro initially said he would seek to annul the results, citing alleged irregularities, but his Liberal Party acknowledged the outcome on Tuesday.

In an Instagram video posted Monday, Bolsonaro said he had received a Supreme Court order requiring him to surrender his passports to prevent him from leaving the country. He said he intended to hand them over, but reports on Tuesday indicated that the deadline had expired and the documents had been canceled.

The senator faces two investigations. One concerns allegations that he laundered money through a sports betting company, involving funds deducted from government pensions paid to senior citizens.

A second inquiry examines his links to a disgraced banker who allegedly gave him millions of dollars to finance a biopic about his father, titled “Dark Horse.” Bolsonaro has denied wrongdoing in both cases. His immunity from prosecution will end when his Senate term expires in February 2027.

Bolsonaro said he received the Supreme Court order outside the home where his father is under house arrest. He identified Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes as the judge who issued it; de Moraes also sentenced his father to prison.

The senator also referred to comments by his brother, Eduardo Bolsonaro, who said on a podcast last week that Flavio should leave Brazil if he lost the election.

Eduardo, who lives in the United States, was convicted in absentia in June of illegally lobbying the Trump administration. He received a four-year prison sentence, and an arrest warrant was issued against him.