Flávio Bolsonaro Flees Brazil to Miami as Corruption Probe Tightens

Defeated Brazilian presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro and his family landed in Miami on Wednesday morning after fleeing Brazil to avoid a Supreme Court order. Bolsonaro, 45, refused to concede the election to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. He departed the country on Tuesday with his wife and two daughters. The family traveled through Argentina and Ecuador before arriving at Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport at 9:30 a.m. EDT.

Argentine immigration officials said the group entered via a land border checkpoint and boarded a private charter plane. Flight data from Flightradar24 shows the aircraft landed in Guayaquil, Ecuador, at 4 a.m. local time before taking off for Florida. A Brazilian diplomat told The Associated Press that Bolsonaro used an Italian passport to enter Argentina. The diplomat noted that federal police were not monitoring his exit because the Supreme Court had not issued an arrest warrant.

The Supreme Court ordered Bolsonaro to hand over his regular and diplomatic passports by noon Tuesday. It is unclear if he complied. Allies said late Tuesday that he holds an Italian passport. The court is investigating Bolsonaro for corruption, money laundering, and tax evasion. He is accused of using a sports betting company to launder fraudulent deductions from government pensions. In a separate case, he is accused of accepting millions of dollars from a disgraced banker. Bolsonaro has denied wrongdoing.

Bolsonaro issued his first public comments on his flight in a statement on X. He called himself a victim of electoral fraud and political persecution. He asked for the annulment of the Lula-Alckmin ticket. “I want to tell not only my 60 million voters but also the Brazilian people as a whole that I am the president-elect,” he wrote. He described the election results as stolen by a criminal organization that established a tyranny.

Lula, who turned 81 on Tuesday, addressed supporters outside the presidential residence in Brasilia before the family landed in Florida. “I regret that he left Brazil, because he could have stayed here and proven that the accusations are not true,” Lula said. He called the act of leaving the country shameful. Lula won re-election in the second round by a margin of about 4.4 million votes. Leaders around the world and the Organization of American States have endorsed the result.

US President Donald Trump approved visas for Bolsonaro and his family this week. Trump said Bolsonaro is welcome in the US and called the family “fine people.” “The election was really strange, and I thought it was terrible,” Trump told reporters at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on Tuesday. He also said without evidence that the election was rigged. Bolsonaro visited the White House in May and is a close ally of Trump.

Bolsonaro’s route through Argentina may strain diplomatic relations between Lula’s government and Argentine President Javier Milei. Milei is also a Trump ally who traveled to Brazil to assist in Bolsonaro’s campaign. Juan Pablo Carreira, a spokesperson for Milei, said on social media that the Argentine administration rescued Bolsonaro from the claws of communism. Brazil’s government representatives have not responded to requests for comment. Bolsonaro’s term as a senator expires Jan. 31, 2027. His Liberal Party released a statement accepting the election results.

Bolsonaro stepped out of the plane dressed casually in a dark polo shirt. He was flanked by his wife and two daughters. Florida is home to the largest population of Brazilians in the US. Jair Bolsonaro, Flávio’s father, also fled to Florida after losing the 2022 election before returning to Brazil three months later. Jair Bolsonaro is currently serving a 27-year sentence under house arrest in Brazil for his attempted coup.