US to grant visas to Flávio Bolsonaro after reported exit

Flávio Bolsonaro, who lost Brazil's presidential runoff, has reportedly left the country for the United States. The reports came hours after police cancelled his passports because he missed a Supreme Court deadline to hand them in. Two sources told Reuters that the senator had left, and a source close to him said he was travelling with his wife and two daughters, according to The Independent. A US official told CNN he was flying to Florida, and two US officials confirmed his departure to The New York Times.nytimes.com+3

Late Tuesday, October 27, a senior State Department official told the Associated Press that "the State Department will issue visas to Flavio Bolsanaro and his family and allow them entry into the United States."wtop.com

Conflicting accounts of his exit

It is still unclear how he left. A senior Federal Police official said Bolsonaro had not passed through any regular migration checkpoint, Reuters reported. A police source told AFP there was "no formal record" of him leaving the country, according to RTÉ. Rogério Marinho, his campaign coordinator, denied that Bolsonaro had left Brazil, according to Euronews reporting carried by Yahoo.yahoo.com+2

Argentine outlet Infobae reported that he had crossed into Puerto Iguazú using his national identity card. Argentina's security ministry denied that he had entered the country, DW reported. Folha de S.Paulo said his plane was due to land in Miami or Dallas. Liberal Party lawmaker Mauricio Marcon said in a video that Bolsonaro was "heading to exile in the United States," Demócrata reported.amp.dw.com+1

Passport order and investigations

Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered Bolsonaro on Monday to give up his regular and diplomatic passports within 24 hours. The deadline passed at noon Tuesday, AP reported. The order is part of Supreme Court investigations into alleged corruption, money laundering and tax evasion. One case alleges he used a sports betting company to launder fraudulent deductions from pensions, and the other alleges he accepted millions of dollars from a disgraced banker. He denies wrongdoing in both. In a video on Monday he said, "I never thought about leaving the country… I will hand over my passports," AP reported.pbs.org+1

A disputed defeat

Lula won more than 64 million votes to fewer than 60 million for Bolsonaro, a margin of 4.4 million votes. Bolsonaro has not conceded. He has made unsupported fraud claims and asked the electoral court to void the result before it is certified on December 18, AP reported. President Donald Trump suggested on Monday, without evidence, that the election was "rigged."pbs.org

His Senate term ends January 31, 2027. When it does, he loses the right to have his cases heard only by the Supreme Court. Reports of his departure have drawn comparisons to his father, former President Jair Bolsonaro. After losing to Lula in 2022, Jair Bolsonaro went to Florida for three months. He is now under house arrest, serving a 27-year sentence for attempting a coup, AP noted.wtop.com