Flavio Bolsonaro to be issued US visa after having passport cancelled following election loss

LAST UPDATE | 8 hrs ago

BRAZIL’S FLAVIO BOLSONARO left his country on Tuesday for the United States, US media said, after he refused to accept defeat in the run-off presidential election held over the weekend.

Bolsonaro, who faces multiple legal woes, had his passports cancelled but had not surrendered the documents as of Tuesday afternoon. The New York Times, CNN and other outlets said he had left Brazil, citing unnamed US officials.

The US State Department said Tuesday that it would issue visas to Bolsonaro and his family “and allow them entry into the United States” but stopped short of confirming if they were indeed travelling to the country.

Flavio Bolsonaro is under legal scrutiny in several cases, including a corruption probe over the financing of a biopic about his father, former president Jair Bolsonaro, who is under house arrest for plotting a coup.

The 45-year-old was defeated by incumbent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on Sunday and was set to lose his parliamentary immunity while legal woes piled up.

While he cried foul and vowed to challenge the election legally, his party and allies have accepted the result, leaving him increasingly isolated.

The New York Times reported that Bolsonaro was also being investigated over ties to a Brazilian lawyer accused of laundering more than $1 billion through an alleged fraud scheme.

Flavio Bolsonaro’s brother, Eduardo, is based in the United States.

Despite media reports that Bolsonaro had entered neighbouring Argentina, the country’s security ministry and migration authorities on Tuesday denied that this took place.

‘Dark Horse’

Brazilian police are probing Flavio Bolsonaro for corruption over the financing of the biopic “Dark Horse” about his father.

“I never had any intention of leaving the country. I will surrender my passports and defend myself against this travesty,” Flavio Bolsonaro said.

The right-wing candidate also took up the mantle as “leadership of the opposition” in a separate statement.

Brazil’s markets tumbled nearly 17% and the dollar surged against the real in response to leftist Lula’s re-election, as investors worried about fiscal discipline.

Flavio slammed Lula for “an unprecedented abuse of both political and economic power,” over a flurry of social spending announcements during the campaign.

‘Concerns raised need to be addressed’

Though Bolsonaro maintained that he will seek annulment of the presidential election, his party later distanced itself from that position and opted to accept the official vote.

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“We recognise the presidential election results, as proclaimed by the Superior Electoral Court (TSE), but we believe that the concerns raised need to be sufficiently addressed within a balanced and democratic political debate,” the Liberal Party said in a statement late Monday.

Flavio Bolsonaro had also requested polling stations stay open in some regions due to heavy rains, but he described the vote extension as “unacceptable” and a “dirty trick.”

While congratulations rolled in for Lula from world leaders on both sides of the political divide, Trump, an ally of the Bolsonaro family, said the election “looked terrible to me.”

“I didn’t take sides but it looked like another rigged election frankly,” he told reporters in Washington. “It looked so corrupt.”

Echo of father’s loss 

Bolsonaro’s rejection of the results echoed his father’s refusal to acknowledge losing to Lula in the 2022 elections.

Tension over that result led to hundreds of Jair Bolsonaro’s supporters storming government buildings a week after Lula’s inauguration to demand military intervention.

Jair Bolsonaro is serving a 27-year sentence under house arrest for an attempted coup to stop Lula from taking office.

Electoral court chief Kassio Nunes Marques, a Bolsonaro appointee to the Supreme Court, hailed the “successful polls” and said there “were no changes” resulting from the decision to extend voting, even if it did create difficulties.

‘Rebellious youth’

Meanwhile, the left was triumphant after securing a historic turnaround in the vote, with thousands pouring into the streets to celebrate Lula on Sunday night.

Lawyer Julio Canelo (42) hailed a victory for “the entire democratic spectrum.”

“It was the result of the people mobilizing, in the streets and online,” he told AFP.

Lula’s re-energized campaign to the cry of “Never Again Bolsonaro,” urging people to go out and vote, saw the abstention rate fall from 21% to 19% in the run-off.

The proportion of spoiled and blank votes also decreased.

“I owe this victory to the rebellious youth who rose up to defend democracy,” Lula told jubilant supporters Sunday night.

European nations, Russia, China, India, South Africa and others congratulated Lula.

Several right-wing governments in Latin America – who are close with Trump – accepted the victory, with Colombia’s President Abelardo de la Espriella saying even though he had backed Bolsonaro: “When the people speak at the ballot box, their will must be respected.”