Flávio Bolsonaro flees to Miami after losing Brazil runoff

Brazilian Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro, who lost the country’s presidential runoff on Oct. 25, left Brazil by land with his wife and two daughters and landed in Miami on Wednesday, Oct. 28, days after a Supreme Court order told him to surrender his passports.

The departure puts the loser of Brazil’s presidential runoff on U.S. soil while he faces a money-laundering and currency-evasion inquiry at home, and while he contests a result that gave President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva 51.8 per cent of the vote and a margin of more than 4.4 million ballots, Al Jazeera reported.

Argentine immigration authorities said the family crossed into Argentina by land late on Tuesday, Oct. 27, and less than an hour later boarded a private plane operated by Baires Fly bound for Guayaquil, Ecuador, Al Jazeera reported. The aircraft then flew to Miami and landed at Opa-locka Executive Airport that morning. The U.S. State Department confirmed on Tuesday it would issue visas to Bolsonaro and his family, the same report said.

Justice Alexandre de Moraes had ordered Bolsonaro to hand over his ordinary and diplomatic passports after the vote, as we reported on Oct. 27. Bolsonaro, 45, has not been charged with a crime. He denies any wrongdoing and calls the case politically motivated. Investigators are also examining a multimillion-dollar payment he received from former Banco Master head Daniel Vorcaro to help finance a film about his father, former president Jair Bolsonaro, AFP and Reuters reported.

In an Instagram livestream on Friday, Oct. 30, Bolsonaro said: “I didn’t leave Brazil, I left for Brazil,” and accused Moraes of making false accusations against him, AFP and Reuters reported. After landing in Miami, he called himself the “true elected president of Brazil” and said he would lead the opposition from the United States, Al Jazeera reported. He has offered no evidence for either claim.

Bolsonaro’s challenge rests on a Supreme Court decision to keep polls open two hours longer on Oct. 25. Both campaigns had asked for extensions, Lula’s citing transport problems and Bolsonaro’s citing heavy rain, as we reported on Oct. 25. Official records show fewer than 35,000 votes were cast during the extension, Al Jazeera reported. His Liberal Party has accepted Lula’s victory.

The U.S. role is the part of the story that is still being reported. President Donald Trump said on Thursday: “I thought the election was a great embarrassment to the people of Brazil,” and said he had not taken sides, according to Al Jazeera. The New York Times reported the same day that Trump’s administration helped the family’s journey and that officials expect it to receive permanent residency, Al Jazeera said. Canada News Media has not independently confirmed the Times report.

Brazil’s Foreign Ministry also summoned Argentina’s chargé d’affaires, María Emilia Cortés, over the family’s passage through Argentina, Reuters reported, citing government sources. Argentine Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno denied on social media that his government had received a formal request for explanations. A spokesperson for President Javier Milei described the trip as a rescue from “the claws of communism,” AFP and Reuters reported.

For Canadians, the main link is trade. Canada is trying to close a deal with the Mercosur bloc, which Brazil leads on the other side of the table, and Foreign Minister Anita Anand has said she wants it concluded “ideally before the end of 2026,” as we reported on Oct. 18. Canada’s merchandise trade with the bloc was $15.8 billion in 2024, according to Government of Canada figures cited by The Canadian Press. Lula’s win, and the sharp market reaction that followed, is covered in our earlier report on the real’s 12 per cent drop.

Lula, 80, is due to begin his fourth non-consecutive term on Jan. 1, 2027. Jair Bolsonaro, convicted in 2024 of plotting a coup, was sentenced to 27 years and is under house arrest in Brazil, Al Jazeera reported. Whether the United States would honour an extradition request for Flávio Bolsonaro, should Brazil make one, is unclear; the two countries have had an extradition treaty for decades, Al Jazeera said.

Via Al Jazeera, AFP and Reuters.

If you find reporting like this useful, consider supporting Canada News Media, an independent Canadian newsroom with no corporate parent.