Bolsonaro allies said the Trump administration was aware of the move and planned to grant him asylum.
By Vered Weiss, World Israel News
Flávio Bolsonaro reportedly traveled to Argentina and continued toward the United States after losing Brazil’s presidential election, despite a Supreme Federal Court order requiring him to surrender his passports.
US officials told CNN and Reuters that Bolsonaro had left Brazil.
Allies of the Bolsonaro family separately told Folha de São Paulo that he had departed and claimed the Trump administration was aware of the move and planned to grant him asylum.
The reports emerged after Bolsonaro said he intended to challenge Sunday’s election results before the Supreme Court.
His party has recognized incumbent President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s victory, although Bolsonaro has not formally conceded.
Argentine outlet Infobae reported that Bolsonaro reached Puerto Iguazú at 2 am Tuesday after entering Argentina with his national identity card. He was reportedly traveling with his wife and two daughters.
A private Gulfstream G400, registration LV-JQW, was preparing to take him to the United States, according to Infobae. The aircraft, owned by Baires Fly SA, had flown from Buenos Aires to Puerto Iguazú at 10:20 pm Monday.
Customs clearance was requested for four passengers and three crew members.
Metrópoles reported that Bolsonaro’s US destination was Miami and that he was expected to arrive in the country in the coming hours.
Bolsonaro’s whereabouts were disputed. Rogério Marinho, his general campaign coordinator, denied that the former presidential candidate had left Brazil, while Argentina’s government rejected the reports.
UOL columnist Letícia Casado reported that Bolsonaro’s allies had been unable to reach him since early Tuesday morning. Euronews contacted the Brazilian Federal Police (PF) for comment.
Supreme Federal Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes had ordered Bolsonaro to turn over his passports to the PF following his election loss.
Bolsonaro agreed with his lawyers that he would comply Tuesday morning but had not handed over the documents by Tuesday afternoon. His passports were canceled Tuesday.
In a social media video Monday, Bolsonaro said he had been banned from leaving Brazil and had been “served a notice to surrender my passports.”
Bolsonaro initially called it “impossible” to recognize Lula’s victory and said the election should be annulled. He subsequently said he would “organize the opposition.”
His brother Eduardo had argued Friday, two days before the second round of voting, that Bolsonaro should leave Brazil if he lost. E
duardo has lived in the US since 2025 after Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court sentenced him to prison for coercion in the case involving his father Jair’s attempts to overturn the results of the 2022 election.
President Donald Trump also questioned the Brazilian election Monday without providing evidence.
“I didn’t take sides,” Trump told reporters when asked for his thoughts. “Elections have to be indisputable, and it looked very bad to me.”
Trump separately said the vote “looked terrible” and “like another rigged election.”
