Flávio Bolsonaro Flees Brazil to Miami as Court Seizes Passports

Flávio Bolsonaro arrived in Miami at 9:30 a.m. EDT on Wednesday, completing a journey through Argentina and Ecuador that began after he refused to concede the Brazilian presidential election. The 45-year-old senator stepped off the plane in a dark polo shirt, accompanied by his wife, Fernanda Antunes Figueira Bolsonaro, and their two daughters, Carolina and Luiza. Florida, which hosts the largest Brazilian population in the United States, received the family a day after the Trump administration granted them U.S. visas.

Bolsonaro’s route to the United States was circuitous. According to Argentine migration authorities, the family entered Misiones province at 10:50 p.m. Tuesday via the Tancredo Neves International Bridge. They boarded a private charter plane within an hour. Flight tracking data from FlightRadar24 indicates the aircraft landed in Guayaquil, Ecuador, around 4 a.m. local time before departing for Miami-Opa locka Executive Airport. A Brazilian diplomat who was not authorized to speak publicly confirmed that Bolsonaro used an Italian passport to enter Argentina, meaning no exit records were created at Brazilian checkpoints.

The move occurred after Brazil’s Supreme Court ordered Bolsonaro to surrender his regular and diplomatic passports by noon Tuesday. The court is investigating him for corruption, money laundering, and tax evasion, alleging he used a sports betting company to launder fraudulent pension deductions. In a separate case, he is accused of accepting millions of dollars from a disgraced banker. Before leaving, Bolsonaro visited his father, Jair Bolsonaro, who is serving a 27-year house arrest sentence for his failed 2022 coup attempt. Flávio Bolsonaro stated in a video that he was organizing opposition to the election results among his congressional colleagues, with his senatorial term expiring on Jan. 31, 2027.

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who turned 81 on Tuesday, addressed supporters in Brasilia shortly before the family landed in Florida. Lula said he regretted that Bolsonaro left because he could have stayed to prove the accusations were false, calling the departure a shameful act. U.S. President Donald Trump, a Bolsonaro ally, said he approved of the move, describing the family as fine people. Trump told reporters at Joint Base Andrews that the election was strange and terrible, though he did not explicitly endorse his candidate’s position. The Organization of American States and world leaders had congratulated Lula, who won the second round by a margin of approximately 4.4 million votes.

Paulo Figueiredo, a close ally of Bolsonaro living in the U.S., issued a short statement confirming the senator was well and resting with his family. Representatives of the Brazilian government did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The route taken by the family is expected to strain diplomatic ties between Lula and Argentine President Javier Milei, another Trump ally who campaigned in Brazil. Bolsonaro’s father had previously fled to Florida after the 2022 election loss but returned to Brazil three months later.

The Supreme Court has not issued a warrant for Flávio Bolsonaro’s arrest, which is why federal police were not monitoring him as he left his home. The family’s entry into Argentina with valid documentation and the subsequent flight to Miami mark a decisive step in the aftermath of the election dispute. Bolsonaro’s presence in Miami places him in a jurisdiction with a strong Brazilian diaspora while he remains under active investigation by his home country’s highest court.