Bolsonaro lands in Miami after election defeat as corruption investigation looms

Route out of Brazil

Argentina’s migration authority said Flávio Bolsonaro, his wife and their two daughters crossed into Argentina from Brazil before continuing toward Ecuador. They used the Tancredo Neves International Bridge, which connects Brazil with Argentina’s Misiones province.

After completing immigration procedures at 11:30 p.m. local time, the four boarded a Baires Fly S.A. charter bound for Guayaquil, the authority said. It reported that they had valid travel documents and no legal barriers to entering Argentina.

Passport order remains unresolved

A court had ordered Flávio Bolsonaro to hand over his regular and diplomatic passports by noon Tuesday, two days after he lost the vote to Lula. It is not known whether he followed that order.

Bolsonaro’s allies said late Tuesday that he has an Italian passport. Argentina’s account placed the family’s departure one day after the Trump administration granted visas to Flávio and his family.

Political and diplomatic response

The departure may heighten tensions between Lula and Argentina’s president, Javier Milei, who is an ally of Donald Trump and traveled to Brazil to back Bolsonaro’s campaign. Lula said he did not have detailed information about Bolsonaro’s location but confirmed he had left Brazil.

Paulo Figueiredo, a Bolsonaro ally based in the United States, said he could not verify reports from abroad. He said Flávio was safe and resting with his family, and announced a Miami press conference for Thursday.

Trump comments on election

Trump said early Wednesday that he approved of Bolsonaro coming to the United States and described the family as “fine people.” He also criticized the election, calling it strange and terrible, but did not explain his remarks. World leaders and the Organization of American States endorsed the result and congratulated Lula. Lula won the runoff by about 4.4 million votes.