Flávio Bolsonaro reported heading to US after missing passport deadline
Brazil’s defeated presidential candidate was reported to have left the country after a court ordered him to surrender his passports. Washington says it will issue visas to his family, but his arrival has not been officially confirmed.
Flávio Bolsonaro was reported to have left Brazil for the United States on Tuesday, 27 October, after missing a court deadline to surrender his passports. A senior US State Department official said visas would be issued to the defeated presidential candidate and his family, but did not confirm whether he had entered the country.
Bolsonaro lost Brazil’s presidential runoff to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on 25 October. The reports of his departure add a new development to the passport restriction imposed after the election. His arrival in the United States has not been officially confirmed.
Why Brazil ordered Bolsonaro to surrender his passports
Brazil’s Supreme Court ordered Bolsonaro to hand over his passports in connection with a probe into alleged money laundering. He denies wrongdoing. France 24 reported that the deadline passed without him surrendering the documents and that his passports were then cancelled.
The Guardian reported that Bolsonaro had not been seen since Monday and missed the Tuesday morning handover deadline. On Monday, he had said he would stay in Brazil and lead the opposition, according to the AP and Reuters report published by Al Jazeera.
What Washington said about US entry
A senior State Department official said the United States would issue visas to Bolsonaro and his family to allow them entry. The official did not say whether Bolsonaro had already entered the country or sought asylum. The Rio Times cited Federal Police sources and White House contacts as saying he had arrived, while noting that no official source had confirmed his arrival.
Questions about his route also prompted a response from Argentina. Its National Migration Directorate said it had no record of Bolsonaro entering the country and that no flight plan including his family had been filed, according to The Rio Times. An Argentine presidential spokesperson also said he had not entered.
Lula called Bolsonaro’s reported departure ‘shameful’ and said he should have stayed to prove his innocence, France 24 reported. The departure reports follow NewsJaws’ earlier account of the passport surrender order; the later US visa statement concerns possible entry, while Bolsonaro’s whereabouts remain uncertain.
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Sources and context
- Flávio Bolsonaro Reported Heading to the USThe Rio Times
- Flávio Bolsonaro flees Brazil after presidential election loss, reports sayThe Guardian
- Flavio Bolsonaro flees Brazil after election loss, US says will grant visaAl Jazeera; reporting credited to AP and Reuters
- Brazil's defeated candidate Flavio Bolsonaro flees to US despite cancelled passportsFrance 24
AI-assisted article checked against the listed sources. NewsJaws did not conduct interviews or attend the reported events.