Brazilian Senator Flavio Bolsonaro and his family arrived in Miami on Wednesday, where the United States government would grant them entry visas after he refused to comply with a Brazilian Supreme Court order to surrender his passports.
Bolsonaro, who lost last Sunday’s presidential election to leftist incumbent Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, left Brazil under a shroud of secrecy after the court order, which relates to a money-laundering investigation in which he denies wrongdoing.
Reuters TV images showed Bolsonaro, his wife and two daughters disembarking from a Gulfstream G400 and heading into Miami’s Opa-Locka Executive Airport.
Their journey to the United States captured attention across the region. They entered northern Argentina late on Tuesday evening, according to the country’s migration department, and then took a private jet to the Ecuadorean city of Guayaquil. From there, they flew to Miami.
Neither Argentina’s presidency, Ecuadorean ministries nor Baires Fly, the operator of the private jet, responded to requests for comment.
Fresh Brazil-US rift
Bolsonaro’s departure threatens to deepen a rift between the two most populous nations in the Americas.
Lula has accused Washington of colluding with the Bolsonaro family to help return them to power. Ahead of Sunday’s election, Reuters reported on a US State Department campaign to restore the Bolsonaros to office.
Trump told reporters on Wednesday that he would approve of Bolsonaro coming to the United States, after his State Department said it would give them entry visas.
Trump has previously alleged that Flavio’s father, former president Jair Bolsonaro, was a victim of judicial persecution in Brazil.
Jair Bolsonaro also travelled to the United States after refusing to concede defeat to Lula in 2022, during Joe Biden’s presidency. He eventually returned to Brazil but was later sentenced to 27 years in prison for plotting a coup after supporters stormed government buildings in Brasilia.
Flavio Bolsonaro had been widely expected to win Sunday’s election but suffered a shock defeat.
Bolsonaro, who loses his immunity from prosecution when his Senate term ends in February, said on Monday after the order to hand in his passports that he had no plans to flee.
“I have never thought about leaving the country,” he said. “I will hand over my passports and defend myself against this travesty, which is a clear attempt to intimidate me.”
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