Brazilian senator Flávio Bolsonaro has reportedly left the country following his defeat in Sunday’s presidential election against left-wing incumbent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, amid reports that he intends to seek political asylum in the United States.
The development has drawn criticism from Lula, who described the senator’s reported departure as “shameful” and questioned why a politician who had lost an election would leave the country.
According to Brazilian news website Metrópoles, sources close to the Bolsonaro family said the senator was travelling to the US. The publication reported that the aircraft carrying him was already airborne but did not initially disclose its departure point.
People close to the family reportedly told Metrópoles that Flávio was expected to arrive in Florida on Tuesday afternoon and planned to request political asylum. The website also claimed that the administration of US President Donald Trump had been informed of the development.
Argentina’s government subsequently confirmed that Flávio Bolsonaro, his wife and two daughters had entered the country before boarding a private aircraft bound for Ecuador late on Tuesday.
In a statement published on X, Argentina’s National Directorate of Migration said the family crossed into Argentina through the Tancredo Neves International Bridge in Misiones province before departing on a private flight at about 11:30 pm.
“They did so with valid travel documentation and without any legal impediment to entering the country,” the agency said. “Furthermore, the transits were recorded by the competent authority without incident.”
The agency identified the operator as Baires Fly S.A. and said the aircraft was heading to Guayaquil, a city approximately 260 kilometres southwest of Ecuador’s capital, Quito.
Lula criticised the senator’s reported decision to leave Brazil while addressing an event in Brasília marking his 81st birthday.
“This is what the Bolsonaro family is like. Brazil is their second homeland. Their first homeland is licking the boots of the US, as he’s become accustomed to doing,” the Brazilian president said.
He added, “I keep imagining what’s on the conscience of a citizen who just lost the elections and flees his country … He who owes nothing, fears nothing. A citizen who sneaks out of his country owes something. The act of leaving Brazil is shameful.”
Reports of Flávio’s departure emerged after he was absent from public view since Monday and failed to meet a deadline to surrender his passport to federal police on Tuesday morning.
The Folha de S. Paulo newspaper also reported that the senator was travelling to the US, citing sources close to the family. According to the publication, a lawyer associated with the Bolsonaro family helped organise the reported departure.
CNN Brasil similarly reported that Flávio had travelled abroad with his wife and two daughters.
A spokesperson for the US State Department said the senator and his family would be granted visas “to allow them entry into the United States”.
Meanwhile, lawmakers from Lula’s Workers’ Party petitioned Brazil’s Supreme Court to order Flávio’s arrest and requested that his name be placed on Interpol’s Red Notice list.
The passport controversy followed a Supreme Court ruling linked to a criminal investigation involving the senator. A judge reportedly cancelled his passport shortly after the election result and ordered him to surrender the document to federal police by 11 am on Tuesday. He failed to appear.
Flávio, who has held Italian citizenship since 2023, is also reported to possess an Italian passport.
The Brazilian newspaper O Globo reported that the senator appeared distressed during a meeting with friends and lawyers on Monday, allegedly expressing fears of arrest. Meanwhile, Argentine news outlet Infobae reported that he had travelled to Argentina on Monday night and was expected to board a private aircraft in Puerto Iguazú for the US. That flight reportedly did not depart.
It remains unclear whether the earlier flight was connected to the aircraft that later carried the family to Ecuador.
Flávio has yet to concede defeat to Lula. In a video published on Monday, he addressed the cancellation of his passport, saying, “I never thought about leaving the country.”
His possible departure has raised questions about the future of Brazil’s right-wing movement following the election. His father, former president Jair Bolsonaro, is under house arrest over allegations linked to an attempted coup, while another son, former congressman Eduardo Bolsonaro, is living in the United States.
Eduardo has an outstanding arrest warrant in Brazil after being sentenced to four years in prison for attempting to interfere in his father’s trial by lobbying Trump to impose sanctions on the justices handling the case.
The family’s political difficulties have prompted analysts to question who will lead the right-wing movement in the aftermath of the election.
Political scientist Magna Inácio, a professor at the Federal University of Minas Gerais, said the election result could create a leadership vacuum within the right.
“The resistance of Brazilian voters to handing victory to this more extremist camp sends a signal that the right leadership is now up for grabs,” she said.
Jair Bolsonaro’s unexpected victory in 2018 transformed Brazil’s political right, with the movement built around his family and political identity becoming a dominant force.
However, political scientist Camila Rocha, who studies Brazil’s new right, believes the reported departure of Flávio and Eduardo’s continued absence from the country could weaken the family’s hold on the movement.
“I think there is a tendency for power to move away from the sons,” Rocha said.
She noted that polling before the election suggested some Bolsonaro supporters preferred other potential candidates, including Michelle Bolsonaro, Jair’s wife and a recently elected senator, and São Paulo Governor Tarcísio de Freitas.
Flávio reportedly had reservations about running for president, fearing that a campaign would turn his life into “hell”. He had previously expected to secure re-election to the Senate but was selected as the family’s presidential candidate after Eduardo, described as his father’s “plan A”, remained in the US.
Political observers have also questioned whether Flávio possesses the political appeal of his father, despite a career spanning 24 years in politics, during which he served as a state legislator and senator, he has passed relatively few laws. His only previous attempt to secure an executive position was in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro mayoral election, where he finished fourth after fainting during a televised debate.
Senator Rogério Marinho, who led Flávio’s campaign, said he was surprised by reports that the candidate had left Brazil.
“Because yesterday we talked about the need for Flávio, with the 60m votes he received, to take on this role as leader of the opposition … since we were given a mandate by a significant part of the population,” Marinho said.
Asked whether Flávio could lead the opposition from abroad, Marinho cited Venezuelan opposition figure María Corina Machado, saying, “María Corina Machado did it” with her country, Venezuela.
Flávio has faced longstanding criminal allegations, including suspicions that he diverted part of his staff members’ salaries, alongside more recent accusations. Despite these controversies, he reportedly received 48.21 per cent of the votes in Sunday’s election, a result analysts have interpreted as reflecting opposition to Lula as well as support for Jair Bolsonaro’s preferred successor.
Inácio said the contest over the Bolsonaro political legacy could intensify among family members still active in Brazil, including Michelle and Bolsonaro’s other sons, senator-elect Carlos Bolsonaro and congressman-elect Jair Renan Bolsonaro.
“Michelle clearly has a political project of her own, but she is likely to face strong resistance from the two step-sons who are in Congress. It is only a matter of time before tensions between them grow,” she said.
Headline: Flavio Bolsonaro Flees Brazil For The U.S. After Election Defeat
