Bolsonaro reaches Miami after Brazil loss

Brazilian Senator Flávio Bolsonaro arrived in Miami on Wednesday after losing the presidential election on Sunday. His landing in Florida resolves a week of uncertainty regarding his location, which had previously involved conflicting reports about whether he was in Argentina or already in the United States. The move follows a dispute over his travel documents and places him outside Brazil’s immediate jurisdiction while legal proceedings continue.

Brazilian authorities cancelled Bolsonaro’s passport after he failed to surrender it within a 24-hour deadline set by investigators. This action was part of an ongoing criminal case in which the senator denies wrongdoing. Once the deadline passed, police checked border crossings but found no initial evidence of his departure, leading to speculation that he was hiding domestically. That theory collapsed when Argentine migration officials confirmed he had crossed the land border into Argentina on Tuesday night.

Flight tracking data verified by the BBC shows the senator’s private jet departed Puerto Iguazú in Argentina at 12:18 local time on Wednesday. The aircraft made a brief stop in Guayaquil, Ecuador, before landing at Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport just before 09:30 local time. Bolsonaro traveled with his wife and two daughters. The US State Department confirmed it would grant visas to the group, allowing them entry into the country.

In a statement released after arriving in the US, Bolsonaro called himself the "true elected president of Brazil" and thanked the American government for its hospitality. He described his departure as a necessary step to protect his family from what he termed political persecution. "It was never my intention to leave my homeland, but I know exactly where this is heading," he said. He also accused opponents of establishing a tyranny and claimed the election was stolen.

Newly reelected President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva criticized the senator’s exit. Lula stated that "those who have nothing to hide have nothing to fear." The departure mirrors a move made by his father, Jair Bolsonaro, who left for Florida in December 2022 before Lula’s inauguration. Jair Bolsonaro is currently serving a 27-year sentence after being convicted in a coup trial, a verdict he partly defended by pointing to his absence from the country during the January 8, 2023, demonstrations.

Flávio Bolsonaro faces two pending investigations at Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court. One examines the transfer of nearly $70 million from Banco Master to the film Dark Horse, a biopic about his father. The second involves alleged money laundering. The senator will lose his parliamentary immunity on January 31, when his eight-year Senate term concludes. His brother, Eduardo Bolsonaro, currently resides in Texas after taking leave from Congress and was convicted in absentia by Brazil’s highest court earlier this year.