Flavio Bolsonaro Flees Brazil as US Promises Visas After Election Defeat

Brazilian Senator Flavio Bolsonaro has left the country for the United States after losing Sunday's presidential election to incumbent Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, according to three sources cited by Reuters on Tuesday. The US State Department is set to grant him and his family entry visas, a senior official said, even though Bolsonaro has yet to concede defeat and left Brazil after refusing a Supreme Court order to surrender his passports.
The court order relates to a money laundering investigation in which Bolsonaro denies any wrongdoing. Justice Alexandre de Moraes had given him 24 hours to hand over his personal and diplomatic passports, but the deadline passed without compliance and his travel documents were cancelled. One source close to the family said Bolsonaro had landed in Florida with his wife and two daughters, though his exact whereabouts remain unconfirmed, and his campaign manager said he had received only a text message saying Bolsonaro wanted to take a break.
The departure threatens to deepen the rift between the two largest countries in the Americas. Lula called the flight from Brazil shameful, saying a person who sneaks out of their country must have something to hide. US President Donald Trump, who had questioned the election result without presenting evidence of fraud, did not mention the departure in his remarks on Monday. Bolsonaro's father, former president Jair Bolsonaro, followed a similar path in 2022, travelling to the US after refusing to concede to Lula, before returning home and later receiving a 27-year sentence for plotting a coup.
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