US to issue Bolsonaro visa amid reports he fled Brazil

The US State Department has said it would issue visas to Brazil's Flavio Bolsonaro and his family amid reports he has left Brazil after refusing to accept defeat in the run-off presidential election held over the weekend.

US media is reporting is the Brazilian senator has left Brazil for the United States.

The location of Mr Bolsonaro, his wife and two daughters in the US is not clear.

One source close to the family said Mr Bolsonaro had landed in Florida, but declined to say where.

Mr Bolsonaro's brother, Eduardo, is based in the United States.

Mr Bolsonaro, who faces multiple legal issues, had his passports cancelled but had not surrendered the documents as of this afternoon.

The New York Times, CNN and other outlets said he had left Brazil, citing unnamed US officials.

The US State Department said it would issue visas to Mr Bolsonaro and his family "and allow them entry into the United States".

But the department did not confirm if they were indeed travelling to the country.

Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said it would be "shameful" if his defeated election rival had fled to the United States.

"A person who sneaks out of their country must have something to hide," the leftist leader remarked in Brasilia during his 81st birthday celebration.

"The act of leaving Brazil is shameful," he added.

Mr 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 Mr Lula da Silva on Sunday and has been set to lose his parliamentary immunity while legal issues piled up.

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

The New York Times reported Mr Bolsonaro was also being investigated over ties to a Brazilian lawyer accused of laundering more than $1 billion (€898 million) through an alleged fraud scheme.

Despite media Mr Bolsonaro had entered neighboring Argentina, the country's security ministry and migration authorities denied that this took place.

US President Donald Trump has previously alleged Flavio's father was a victim of judicial persecution in Brazil.

His departure threatens to deepen a rift between the two most populous nations in the Americas.

The newly elected leftist president has accused Washington of colluding with the Bolsonaros to put them back in power, and Reuters reported ahead of Sunday's election on a US State Department campaign to restore them to office.

His father, Jair Bolsonaro, also went to the US after refusing to concede to Mr Lula in 2022, when former US president Joe Biden was in office.

He eventually returned to Brazil but was later given a 27-year sentence for plotting a coup after his supporters stormed government buildings in Brasilia.

Mr Trump made no mention of Mr Bolsonaro's departure in comments to the press but said the Brazilian vote "looked like another rigged election".

Mr Lula's office did not respond to a request for comment.

Mr Bolsonaro was favoured to win the presidential election but ended up losing in a shock result to Mr Lula.

Yesterday, he was given 24 hours to surrender his passports as part of the money laundering probe in which he denies wrongdoing, but his documents were cancelled after the deadline lapsed, two sources said.

Mr Bolsonaro, who loses his immunity from prosecution when his Senate term ends in February, said yesterday he had no plans to flee.

"I have never thought about leaving the country," he said.

"I will hand over my passports and defend myself against this travesty, which is a clear attempt to intimidate me," he added.

Brazil's Minister of Institutional Relations José Guimarães commented on reports of Mr Bolsonaro leaving the country in an interview with CNN Brasil.

"I have no confirmation from the Federal Police or oversight bodies," he told the news outlet.

"But this speaks a lot about our opponent's lack of preparation to govern the country," he added.

Mr Bolsonaro has yet to officially concede defeat - saying on Sunday he would seek the annulment of the result over alleged voter irregularities.

However his party did acknowledged Mr Lula's victory.

It remains unclear how Mr Bolsonaro was able to leave the country while he was facing a 24-hour deadline to hand over his passports.

A senior Federal Police official said Mr Bolsonaro had not exited the country via any regular migration point.

Eduardo Bolsonaro said ahead of the vote that an election loss would require a move.

"If my brother does not win, I'm in favour that he would leave the country," he told podcaster Steven Crowder this month.