Flavio Bolsonaro flew to Miami defying a Supreme Court order and declared himself Brazil's president-elect

Escape through three countries

Brazilian senator Flavio Bolsonaro, who lost the presidential election in the second round, flew to Miami on Wednesday morning along with his wife and two daughters aboard a private Gulfstream G400 jet. The route, which was tracked all night, went through Argentina, where the family entered by land on Tuesday evening, then through the Guayaquil airport in Ecuador and, finally, to Miami-Opa-Locka airport, where Bolsonaro appeared at around 09:30 local time, shielded from journalists by umbrellas. This was reported by Deutsche Welle, BBC and AFP, whose correspondents were present at the arrival.

The court, the passports and Italian citizenship

The departure took place despite a Brazilian Supreme Court order to surrender passports as part of a money-laundering investigation, in which Bolsonaro denies any wrongdoing. He missed the 24-hour deadline, after which his Brazilian and diplomatic passports were annulled. According to AFP, the senator has also held Italian citizenship since 2023, which allowed him to leave the country. Notably, as recently as Monday Bolsonaro wrote on Instagram that he had no intention of leaving the country and would 'surrender his passports and defend himself against this mockery.' BBC notes that his whereabouts remained a mystery for several days: reports of him crossing the border into Argentina were initially unconfirmed, and rumors of his arrival in the US on Tuesday proved premature — Argentine migration authorities only reported the border crossing on Tuesday evening.

'President-elect' or 'leader'

A few hours after landing, Bolsonaro released an open letter in which he declared himself the 'president-elect' of Brazil and claimed that his victory had been stolen through an 'electoral coup' by President Lula da Silva and the Supreme Court. He provided no evidence of fraud; international observers recognized the vote as fair, and Bolsonaro's own party accepted the results, as Deutsche Welle notes. A curious detail recorded by DW: Bolsonaro deleted the original version of the letter on X, in which he called himself 'president-elect,' and replaced it with a new one in which he calls himself the 'leader' of Brazil, promising to lead the opposition from the US. BBC adds that Bolsonaro's final plans — his destination and the length of his stay in the US — remain unclear for now.

US visas and Lula's reaction

The US State Department confirmed that it would grant visas to Bolsonaro and his family; the administration of Donald Trump — a Bolsonaro ally — supported his departure, and Trump himself, before the arrival, once again claimed that the election had been 'very strange.' Incumbent President Lula, who won with 51.8% of the vote, called Bolsonaro's flight 'shameful': 'A man who secretly leaves his country must have something to hide,' he said on Tuesday. Deutsche Welle points out that Bolsonaro's arrival in Florida — like his father Jair's departure after the 2022 election — could deepen the rift between the two largest countries in the Americas: during the campaign, Lula accused the Trump administration of colluding with the Bolsonaro family.

What awaits Bolsonaro in Brazil

Two investigations are underway against Flavio Bolsonaro in the Supreme Federal Court: one into possible irregularities in the transfer of nearly $70 million from the bank Banco Master to finance the film 'Dark Horse' about his father, and one into money laundering — he denies both. AFP provides details: according to Intercept Brasil, in May recordings were published in which Bolsonaro negotiated film financing of roughly $24 million with banker Daniel Vorcaro, who is serving a sentence in one of the largest fraud cases in Brazilian history; the politician had previously denied knowing him. The travel ban was issued by Justice Alexandre de Moraes, whom Bolsonaro had promised to pursue impeachment against if he won. A key factor is that on January 31, with the end of his eight-year Senate term, Bolsonaro will lose parliamentary immunity. His brother Eduardo has already been convicted in absentia by the Supreme Court for lobbying in the US during his father's trial, while Jair Bolsonaro himself is serving a 27-year sentence for plotting to stay in power after his 2022 defeat.