Bolsonaro's Son Flees Brazil for U.S. After Election Defeat, Gets Visas

Flávio Bolsonaro, who lost Brazil's presidential runoff to incumbent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, left the country with his wife and two daughters shortly after the results were announced. A senior State Department official said the family would be granted U.S. visas and allowed entry into the country.

The family's journey took them from Brazil to Argentina, and then by private plane to Ecuador, before landing in Miami. The trip came as a deadline for Bolsonaro to surrender his regular and diplomatic passports passed, amid an ongoing investigation into corruption, money laundering and tax evasion.

Bolsonaro's campaign manager said he had not been in contact with him for much of Tuesday, aside from a brief message saying he needed time before speaking further. Bolsonaro's brother, who lives in Texas, had urged him publicly to leave Brazil if he lost the election.

President Trump, who has previously voiced support for Bolsonaro and hosted him at the White House in May, said he approved of the move to the United States. He also repeated an unsubstantiated claim that Brazil's election had been rigged.

Lula, who secured a win of nearly 4 percentage points over Bolsonaro, criticized the departure as shameful, suggesting that fleeing the country reflected guilt. He also remarked that the Bolsonaro family appeared to treat the U.S. as their true home rather than Brazil.

The case echoes Bolsonaro family history: his father, former President Jair Bolsonaro, is currently serving a 27-year sentence under house arrest for attempting a coup after his own 2022 election defeat, and had briefly fled to Florida before returning to Brazil three months later.