Flavio Bolsonaro, a Brazilian senator, left Brazil for the United States after losing a presidential runoff election on Sunday to incumbent President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. The source does not specify his current location, with reports claiming he had landed in the US, was in Ecuador, or was still en route.
Bolsonaro fled despite a Supreme Court order requiring him to surrender his passports. The court had barred him from leaving the country. His passports were canceled after he missed the deadline to turn them in, according to reports on Tuesday.
Bolsonaro faces multiple corruption investigations. He has been accused of laundering money through a sports betting company using funds from government pensions for senior citizens. A second investigation examines his connections to a disgraced banker from whom he allegedly accepted millions of dollars to finance a biopic about his father, Jair Bolsonaro. Bolsonaro has denied wrongdoing in both cases. He will lose his immunity from prosecution once his senate term ends in February 2027.
Argentina's Migration Department said Bolsonaro and his family entered Argentina through a border crossing in Misiones Province on Wednesday using valid travel documents, then boarded a private plane to Ecuador. The department noted there was no legal impediment to their entry despite the Brazilian court order.
US President Donald Trump said Wednesday he "would approve" of Bolsonaro coming to the United States. A senior State Department official said the US would issue visas to Bolsonaro and his family.
Lula won the runoff by more than 4 million votes. Bolsonaro has not conceded and said he would seek to annul the election results, citing the extension of voting past the planned 5 p.m. closing time. His Liberal Party acknowledged the results on Tuesday. Bolsonaro's refusal to accept defeat mirrors his father Jair's challenge to his 2022 election loss to Lula. Jair Bolsonaro is serving a more than 20-year prison sentence for plotting a coup.