Brazil's Flávio Bolsonaro headed to the U.S. after losing election, sources say
Brazilian Senator Flávio Bolsonaro has left the country for the United States after losing Sunday's presidential election and refusing to comply with a Supreme Court order to hand over his passports, two sources said.
Bolsonaro was favoured to win Sunday's presidential election but lost to incumbent
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Brazilian Senator Flávio Bolsonaro has left the country for the United States after losing Sunday's presidential election and refusing to comply with a Supreme Court order to hand over his passports, two sources said.
The U.S. Embassy in Brazil did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Bolsonaro's lawyer also declined to comment.
Flávio's departure for the United States threatens to deepen a rift between the two most populous nations in the Americas. Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has accused Washington of colluding with the Bolsonaros to put them back in power, and Reuters reported ahead of Sunday's election on a U.S. State Department campaign to restore them to office.
Bolsonaro was favoured to win Sunday's presidential election but ended up losing in a shock result to leftist incumbent Lula. On Monday, he was given 24 hours to hand in his passports as part of a money laundering probe in which he denies wrongdoing — but that deadline has now lapsed, two other sources said, leading to his documents being cancelled.
WATCH | Lula da Silva wins a closely contested run-off vote:
Lula wins Brazil’s presidential election run-off
October 25|
Duration
1:58
Incumbent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is projected to win a fourth term in Brazil’s presidential election run-off against challenger Flávio Bolsonaro, the son of an ally to the U.S. President Donald Trump.Flávio's father, former president Jair Bolsonaro, also went to the United States after refusing to concede losing to Lula in 2022.
He eventually returned to Brazil but was later given a 27-year sentence for plotting a coup. His son has yet to officially concede defeat, saying on Sunday he would seek the annulment of the result over alleged voter irregularities. But his Liberal Party said on Monday it acknowledged Lula's victory.
A senior Brazilian Federal Police official said Bolsonaro has not exited the country via any regular migration point.
Right-wing influencer Paulo Figueiredo, who serves as a sort of unofficial spokesperson for the Bolsonaro family, declined to answer questions about Bolsonaro's whereabouts.
"After months of intense work that has been unfairly thwarted, I am not in the mood to speak to the press," he said. "If I have any comments to make on any matter, I will get in touch."
Supporters of opposition presidential candidate Bolsonaro react to early presidential runoff results in Rio de Janeiro on Oct. 25. (Silvia Izquierdo/The Associated Press)
Eduardo Bolsonaro, Bolsonaro's younger brother who lives in the U.S., said ahead of the vote that an election loss would require a move.
"If my brother does not win, I'm in favour that he would leave the country," he told U.S.-based podcaster Steven Crowder this month.
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