Flavio Bolsonaro, who lost last Sunday’s presidential election to left-wing incumbent Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, has arrived in Miami with his family after leaving Brazil amid a court order linked to a money-laundering investigation. Bolsonaro has denied any wrongdoing in the case.
Images showed Bolsonaro, his wife and two daughters disembarking from a Gulfstream G400 private jet at Miami’s Opa-Locka Executive Airport before heading away from the airfield.
Their journey to the United States drew regional attention. According to Argentina’s migration department, the family entered northern Argentina late Tuesday before travelling by private jet to Guayaquil, Ecuador. They subsequently flew to Miami.
Argentina’s presidency, Ecuadorian government ministries and Baires Fly, the company operating the private aircraft, did not respond to requests for comment.
Bolsonaro’s departure could further strain relations between Brazil and the United States, the two most populous countries in the Americas.
Lula has accused Washington of working with the Bolsonaro family to facilitate their return to power. Before Sunday’s election, reports highlighted a US State Department effort aimed at restoring the Bolsonaro political camp to office.
US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he would support Bolsonaro’s arrival in the United States. His comments followed a statement from the US State Department indicating that entry visas would be issued to members of the family.
Trump has previously claimed that Flavio’s father, former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, was subjected to judicial persecution in his home country.
Jair Bolsonaro travelled to the United States after refusing to concede defeat to Lula in the 2022 presidential election, which took place during Joe Biden’s presidency. He eventually returned to Brazil but was later sentenced to 27 years in prison for plotting a coup following an attack by his supporters on government buildings in Brasilia.
Flavio Bolsonaro had been widely expected to win Sunday’s presidential contest but ultimately lost to Lula.
The younger Bolsonaro faces the prospect of losing his immunity from prosecution when his Senate term ends in February. On Monday, following the order requiring him to surrender his passports, he said he had no intention of leaving Brazil permanently.
“I have never thought about leaving the country,” he said, adding that he would surrender his passports and challenge what he described as an attempt to intimidate him.
