Brazilian Senator Flavio Bolsonaro has fleed the country for the United States after losing the presidential election to incumbent Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, with the US State Department set to issue entry visas to him and his family, Reuters reported on Tuesday, citing three sources.Bolsonaro’s departure came after he failed to comply with a Supreme Court order to surrender his passports within 24 hours. The court had ordered the passports seized over a money laundering probe, in which Bolsonaro denies wrongdoing, citing concerns that he could flee Brazil and his “significant financial resources”. Two sources told Reuters that his passports were cancelled after the deadline expired.The location of Bolsonaro, his wife and two daughters was not immediately clear. A source close to the family told Reuters that he had landed in Florida but declined to specify where.“The State Department will issue visas to Flavio Bolsonaro and his family and allow them entry into the United States,” a senior US State Department official told Reuters.Bolsonaro’s departure could deepen tensions between Washington and Brasil. Lula has accused the US of colluding with the Bolsonaro family to bring them back to power.US president Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed that former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, Flavio’s father, was the target of judicial persecution. Trump also said on Monday that Brazil’s election “looked like another rigged election”, without providing evidence in the remarks cited by Reuters.Lula, speaking in Brasilia, said he had just learned of Flavio’s departure and called it shameful, arguing that the senator should have stayed in Brazil to prove his innocence.Flavio Bolsonaro has yet to formally concede defeat. On Sunday, he said he would seek to annul the election result over alleged voter irregularities, although his Liberal Party said on Monday that it acknowledged Lula’s victory.The circumstances of his departure remain unclear. A senior Brazilian federal police official told Reuters that Bolsonaro had not left the country through any regular migration point.On Monday, Bolsonaro had denied any intention of fleeing Brazil, saying he would surrender his passports and defend himself against what he called an attempt to intimidate him. His campaign manager, senator Rogerio Marinho, said he was surprised by reports of the departure, adding that they had discussed Bolsonaro taking on the role of opposition leader after receiving about 60 million votes.Bolsonaro is due to lose his immunity from prosecution when his Senate term ends in February. His departure also echoes that of his father, who went to the United States after refusing to concede defeat to Lula in 2022. Jair Bolsonaro later returned to Brazil and was sentenced to 27 years in prison for plotting a coup after his supporters stormed government buildings in Brasilia.
