Flavio Bolsonaro lands in Florida after fleeing Brazil despite court order to surrender passport

Law enforcement officers and others use umbrellas to shield people as they escort them to a vehicle after Brazilian presidential candidate Flavio Bolsonaro arrived with his family at Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport in Florida on October 28, 2026. — AFP pic

First Published: Thursday, 29 Oct 2026 8:49 AM MYT

MIAMI, Oct 29 — Brazil’s defeated right-wing presidential candidate Flavio Bolsonaro arrived in Florida by private plane yesterday after fleeing his country in defiance of a court order to surrender his passport.

Following speculation over his whereabouts, the 45-year-old disembarked the jet at Opa-Locka Executive Airport outside Miami, AFP witnessed, having flown via Argentina and Ecuador.

Bolsonaro, who lost a runoff election to incumbent Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Sunday, is under investigation in Brazil for alleged corruption and money laundering and, with his defeat, is set to lose parliamentary immunity.

Only last week, he had seemed likely to become the next president of Brazil after coming out on top in the first round of elections, but Lula made a surprise surge to retain power.

Bolsonaro—who travelled to the US with his wife and daughters—had vowed that as president he would free his father Jair, who is under house arrest for coup-plotting after his own electoral loss to Lula in 2022.

A police source told AFP that Flavio Bolsonaro’s Brazilian and diplomatic passports had been canceled, but the senator has also held Italian nationality since 2023, according to Italian documents seen by AFP.

The administration of President Donald Trump, an ally of the Bolsonaros, earlier said it would grant him and his family US visas.

The US Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that the Bolsonaro family members were inspected and cleared “with applicable immigration laws and procedures.”

The travel ban was issued by powerful Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who led the case against Flavio Bolsonaro’s father and is a controversial figure hated by the Brazilian right.

Flavio Bolsonaro had vowed to seek the justice’s impeachment if he were elected.

A ‘shameful’ act 

Lula, who won the election with 51.8 per cent of Sunday’s vote, called Flavio Bolsonaro fleeing the country a “shameful” act.

“A person who sneaks out of their country must have something to hide,” he said in Brasilia during his 81st birthday celebration on Tuesday.

Brazil police issued a statement yesterday saying that he was not considered a fugitive.

Following his election defeat, Bolsonaro said he would seek to annul the result, citing the decision to extend polling hours over transport problems that prevented some citizens from voting. But he insisted he would never flee.

Trump, speaking early yesterday before Bolsonaro landed, repeated his accusations that the Brazilian election was rigged.

“The election was very strange, and I thought it was terrible,” the president said, adding that he approved of Bolsonaro’s plan to travel to the US.

Argentina’s opposition lawmakers demanded to know how Flavio Bolsonaro had managed to travel through the country to the United States.

While Argentinian authorities said he was carrying valid travel documents, officials have requested chief of cabinet Diego Santilli to provide details to parliament, according to opposition lawmaker Agustin Rossi.

Fraud cases 

The most high-profile fraud case against Flavio Bolsonaro centers on the unreleased biopic “Dark Horse” starring US actor Jim Caviezel as Flavio’s father Jair.

In May, the outlet Intercept Brasil revealed audio recordings in which Flavio Bolsonaro negotiated approximately US$24 million to finance the film with banker Daniel Vorcaro, who is jailed over one of Brazil’s biggest-ever fraud cases.

Before the leak, Flavio Bolsonaro had denied knowing Vorcaro, or that he had financed the movie.

In July, the Supreme Court ordered a probe into the financing of the film, and whether it involved corruption, money laundering or the illegal movement of currency.

Flavio Bolsonaro acknowledged Vorcaro had funded the film, but insisted it was a private business deal that was “completely legal.”

In another probe, police are investigating whether Flavio Bolsonaro laundered money and moved funds out of the country in collaboration with his close friend, the lawyer Willer Tomaz.

Flavio’s father Jair Bolsonaro never conceded defeat after losing to Lula and left the country on the eve of his rival’s inauguration, only returning to Brazil three months later. — AFP