Flávio Bolsonaro Arrives in Miami After Leaving Brazil

Defeated Brazilian presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro arrived in Miami on Wednesday morning with his wife and two daughters. The 45-year-old senator left Brazil after refusing to concede the election to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. He landed at Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport shortly after 9:30 a.m. local time.

Bolsonaro’s journey began late Tuesday when he crossed into Argentina via a land border checkpoint. He then boarded a private charter plane. Flight data indicates the aircraft stopped in Guayaquil, Ecuador, around 4:00 a.m. local time before departing for Florida. U.S. officials approved visas for the family earlier this week.

The senator is currently under investigation by Brazil’s Supreme Court for corruption, money laundering, and tax evasion. The court ordered him to hand over his regular and diplomatic passports by noon Tuesday. While it remains unclear if he complied with that order, an unnamed Brazilian diplomat told the Associated Press that Bolsonaro used an Italian passport to enter Argentina. The diplomat noted that federal police were not monitoring him at the time because no arrest warrant had been issued.

Before leaving, Bolsonaro visited his father, former President Jair Bolsonaro, who is serving a 27-year sentence under house arrest for an attempted coup. Jair Bolsonaro previously fled to Florida after his 2022 defeat before returning to Brazil three months later. Flávio Bolsonaro said in a video on Monday that he was organizing opposition to the election results among his congressional colleagues. His term as a senator expires on January 31, 2027.

President Lula, who turned 81 on Tuesday, addressed supporters in Brasilia before the family landed in Florida. He stated that he regretted Bolsonaro’s departure because the senator could have stayed to prove the accusations against him were false. Lula called the act of leaving Brazil shameful. Lula won reelection by a margin of approximately 4.4 million votes in the final round.

The route taken by the Bolsonaro family may strain relations between Brazil and Argentina. Argentine President Javier Milei, a close ally of U.S. President Donald Trump, visited Brazil to support the campaign. Milei’s spokesperson, Juan Pablo Carreira, said on social media that his administration rescued Bolsonaro from communism, which seeks to imprison opposition figures. Brazilian government representatives have not responded to requests for comment.

U.S. President Donald Trump, who visited Bolsonaro at the White House in May, called the family fine people and said the election results were strange and terrible. He also described the vote as rigged without providing evidence. The Organization of American States and world leaders have endorsed the result. The U.S. has imposed double-digit sanctions on Brazil, the largest economy in Latin America, while Lula’s government deepens trade ties with China and BRICS nations.