Flávio Bolsonaro arrives in Miami after fleeing Brazil following his election loss to Lula
Miami — Brazilian former presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro arrived in the United States on Wednesday, where he will be hosted by President Donald Trump's government, after fleeing Brazil via Argentina following his loss in Sunday's election to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
The 45-year-old far-right senator entered the country through Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport, in Miami-Dade County, accompanied by his wife and two daughters, according to EFE and Reuters. Television images showed him stepping off the private jet with his family.
Bolsonaro left his country despite a Supreme Court order requiring him to surrender his passports within 24 hours and barring him from leaving Brazil. The measure was issued by Justice Alexandre de Moraes as part of an investigation into alleged money laundering linked to betting houses, accusations Bolsonaro denies. Brazil's Federal Police cancelled his ordinary and diplomatic passports on Tuesday after the deadline passed without him handing them over, although according to El País the senator also holds an Italian passport.
Argentina's National Migration Directorate confirmed that the senator crossed the Brazilian border on Tuesday night via the Tancredo Neves international bridge, connecting Foz do Iguaçu with Puerto Iguazú. He then boarded a Baires Fly Gulfstream G400 private jet, registration LV-JQW, bound for Guayaquil, Ecuador, from where he continued to the United States. The plane landed in Miami at around 9:20 a.m. local time.
The U.S. State Department had confirmed it would grant visas to the former candidate and his family. Trump welcomed receiving him and called the Brazilian election “very strange,” while Lula called Bolsonaro's departure from Brazil after his electoral defeat “shameful.” According to O Globo, he was received on arrival by his brother Eduardo, who has lived in the United States since last year.
Photo: Joe Raedle / Getty Images via AFP