Flávio Bolsonaro lands in US after fleeing Brazil following election defeat

Flávio Bolsonaro, the losing candidate in Brazil’s presidential election, has landed in the US after fleeing his home country where he is under investigation for corruption and money laundering, according to people who have been briefed on the matter.

The rightwing politician and son of jailed ex-president Jair Bolsonaro arrived in Florida on Tuesday evening, said one of the people.

He then met his brother Eduardo Bolsonaro, who is already in self-imposed exile in the US.

A supreme court judge in Brazil had imposed a travel ban on Bolsonaro after his failed election bid against incumbent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

The judicial order to remain in Brazil was linked to ongoing criminal investigations and came hours after Lula’s surprise re-election on Sunday evening, when the left-winger won a narrow run-off vote by 52 to 48 per cent.

Brazil’s federal police cancelled Bolsonaro’s passports after he did not comply with a deadline to surrender the travel documents by Tuesday morning. Allies then said they were unable to contact him, as questions mounted over his whereabouts throughout the day.

Argentina’s ‌migration department said on ‌Wednesday that Bolsonaro and his family had briefly ​entered the ⁠country before boarding ‌a ‌private flight ​bound for Guayaquil, ⁠Ecuador ​on Tuesday, ​according to ‌the flight plan.

Bolsonaro’s presence in the US is likely to worsen the already strained relations between Brasília and Washington. An ally said his wife and two daughters had also left Brazil.

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The Trump administration, which is yet to formally recognise Lula’s victory, said on Tuesday it would grant a visa to Bolsonaro, whose father Jair Bolsonaro was an ally of the Republican president when he was in office.

US president Donald Trump said he approved of ‌Bolsonaro coming to the US after losing the presidential election.

“Well, I would ​approve,” Trump told reporters on the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews on his return from a campaign trip to Texas.

“I think they’re fine people,” Trump ⁠said. “The election was very strange, and I thought it was terrible. It’s gotten bad reviews. You ‌look ‌at ​what happened to their market.”

He added, “I think it’s so terrible to see it. I didn’t take sides, you know. I know them both. I know ⁠Lula. I know Flávio a little bit. ​I know the father very well.”

Trump was referring ​to former president Jair Bolsonaro, whom he has previously alleged to have been a victim of judicial persecution in ‌Brazil.

“The father was treated really badly. ​I thought, but I wasn’t involved,” Trump added. “That’s Brazil. It’s a different country.”

Brazil’s tiebreaker presidential vote was marred by controversy after a supreme court judge decreed a last-minute extension of voting for two hours following a request by Lula’s Workers’ Party amid complaints about problems with public transport.

Following the result, Bolsonaro slammed the decision, even though his own Liberal Party had asked for polling stations to be kept open in specific areas affected by heavy rainfall.

Bolsonaro’s legal problems stem from two separate police probes. One concerns his links to the alleged mastermind of a $10 billon bank collapse. The other concerns suspected money laundering involving Bolsonaro and a friend. He denies wrongdoing.

Supporters say the defeated presidential candidate is the victim of political persecution. The supreme court judge who demanded Bolsonaro’s passport, Alexandre de Moraes, also convicted his father last year and is a hate figure for the Brazilian right.

The elder Bolsonaro is serving a 27-year sentence, currently at home on health grounds, for plotting a coup after losing an election to Lula in 2022. Eduardo Bolsonaro was convicted this year for attempting to interfere in the trial of his father and currently lives in Texas.

Rogério Marinho, a senator who co-ordinated Bolsonaro’s campaign, said he had not been informed about the candidate’s decision to flee the country and had been surprised. But he said he “understood” it because “a series of abuses has been committed against citizens”.

Marinho said the federal police had filed a request for Bolsonaro’s passport only seven minutes after the election result was announced.

Lula, who celebrated his 81st birthday on Tuesday, said Bolsonaro’s departure was “shameful”. “What sort of guilty conscience must a citizen have when he has just lost an election and has to leave the country,” he said, adding that the Bolsonaro family treated Brazil as if it were a “second home”. – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2026/Reuters

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