Flavio Bolsonaro's Reported Exit Sparks Brazil Political Uproar
A wave of political controversy has swept Brazil after reports emerged that Flavio Bolsonaro, the Liberal Party's presidential candidate and son of former president Jair Bolsonaro, was travelling to the United States on Tuesday.
The reports followed Bolsonaro's defeat in the second round of the presidential election on Sunday at the hands of incumbent Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Bolsonaro reportedly missed the court-imposed deadline to deposit his ordinary and diplomatic passports. Both were subsequently cancelled as part of a money laundering investigation. He maintains that he has done nothing wrong.
According to official tallies, Lula won 51.79 percent of valid votes, while Bolsonaro received 48.21 percent. Lula is set to be sworn in for a fourth time as president on January 5, 2027, for a four-year term.
Speaking in Brasilia after the results, Bolsonaro said it was 'impossible' to accept them. He sought the cancellation of the election, arguing that extending voting hours by two hours had treated voters unequally. The extension was approved for polling stations disrupted by transport problems and heavy rain.
Bolsonaro also argued that some areas lost out because polling stations did not reopen, and promised his legal team would contest the outcome.
Despite this, the Liberal Party formally acknowledged Lula's victory on Monday. Other parties that had supported Bolsonaro, including the Republicans, the Brazilian Democratic Movement and the Progressists, followed suit and did not back calls for annulment or a new election.
On Monday, Brazilian media reported that Supreme Federal Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes had ordered Bolsonaro to give up his passports to federal police and blocked him from leaving the country. The order is linked to an inquiry involving Bolsonaro and lawyer Vilver Tomaz. Investigators are examining suspected money laundering and financial relationships with companies in the sports betting sector.
Bolsonaro is also being examined over the funding of a biopic about his father. Authorities are trying to trace the origin of the money used to finance the film.
Bolsonaro had said on Monday that he would obey the passport request and rejected any plan to flee the country after meeting his father. Jair Bolsonaro is serving a sentence of 27 years and three months over a plot to overturn the 2022 election result and is under house arrest. Other cases involving the family are still being investigated.
Flavio Bolsonaro was unable to submit his documents before the deadline expired on Tuesday, leading to the cancellation of his passports. Later reports said he had left for the United States, but his travel route has not been confirmed.
A senior State Department official was cited by US media on Tuesday as saying Washington would grant visas allowing Bolsonaro and his family to enter the country. Lula, addressing supporters outside the Alvorada Palace, said he regretted Bolsonaro's decision to leave Brazil, calling it a shameful choice.
Lula also criticised Bolsonaro for failing to surrender his passport despite a court order. He said Bolsonaro should have stayed to answer the charges. Lula recalled that in 2018, when ordered to hand over his passport, he complied and remained in Brazil to prove his innocence.
Bolsonaro's departure has not been officially confirmed. Brazilian media reported that immigration control records show no evidence he exited through a standard border check. Federal police are investigating whether he left the country and, if so, which route he used.
Argentina's immigration authority reportedly said on Wednesday that Bolsonaro and his family departed late Tuesday on a private plane bound for Ecuador. Ecuador's foreign ministry has not yet responded. The current location of Bolsonaro and his family remains unclear.
Earlier on Monday, US President Donald Trump called Brazil's presidential election 'another rigged election' and described the decision to extend voting hours as 'very strange.' Brazil's Vice President Geraldo Alckmin rejected the claims, stating that no evidence supports allegations of fraud and that democracy works when voters decide the outcome.
Separately, the Supreme Federal Court on Tuesday instructed federal police to open an inquiry into possible foreign interference in the country's electoral process. The order by Judge Flavio Dino points to signs that algorithms on digital platforms may have been altered to favour conservative candidate Bolsonaro.