Flávio Bolsonaro flees Brazil despite ban as US offers visas

Miami — Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, defeated by Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in Sunday's presidential run-off, has left Brazil with his wife and two daughters despite a Supreme Federal Court order barring him from leaving the country, MercoPress reported. The US State Department confirmed it will grant the family visas.

According to the newspaper O Globo, he arrived in Miami on Tuesday night. A State Department official confirmed visas would be issued for the senator and his family without specifying the type. Simón Levy, a Mexican lawyer close to President Donald Trump, said Washington had authorised political asylum — something the US government has not confirmed. His brother Eduardo Bolsonaro has lived in Florida since 2025 and faces an arrest warrant in Brazil after being sentenced to four years and two months in prison for coercion in the case against their father.

The departure defies an order from Judge Alexandre de Moraes, who had given the senator 24 hours to surrender his passports as part of an investigation into alleged money laundering through online betting companies — a probe that also involves a lawyer friend of the senator. The deadline expired at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, and the Federal Police cancelled his ordinary and diplomatic passports. His exit route has not been officially confirmed; Argentina's National Migration Directorate said a private plane inspected at Iguazú airport had its paperwork in order and no flight plan listed the Bolsonaro family. Argentine presidential spokesman Adrián Ravier said there had been no request for asylum.

"A citizen who sneaks out of his country must owe something. Leaving Brazil is shameful," Lula said at a celebration of his 81st birthday on Tuesday, adding: "He could have stayed here and shown that the accusations were not true."

The flight is a striking reversal. On Monday, Bolsonaro had said he would hand over his passports, defend himself against what he called "this farce" and that his place was "beside the Brazilian people". That same day, Supreme Court Judge Flávio Dino ordered the Federal Police to investigate possible foreign financing of his campaign, following complaints about contributions from Rockbridge Network, a network of US conservative donors founded by Vice President JD Vance. The senator is also under investigation over his links with banker Daniel Vorcaro, jailed in the Banco Master case.

Bolsonaro never formally recognised his defeat, though his Liberal Party accepted the result. His father, Jair Bolsonaro, made a similar move after losing the 2022 election, flying to Florida two days before Lula's inauguration and staying until late March 2023. Lula will begin his fourth term on January 5, 2027 — and how the Brazilian and US governments handle the visa decision between now and then will test a relationship already strained by the disputed aftermath of the vote.