🔴Brazil's defeated candidate Flavio Bolsonaro heads to US, sources say

Brazil's defeated candidate Flavio Bolsonaro heads to US despite cancelled passports Brazil's former presidential candidate Flavio Bolsonaro fled to the US, sources said Tuesday, despite his passports being cancelled after he failed to comply with a Supreme Court order to hand them over as part of a money laundering probe. Bolsonaro's whereabouts had been a source of speculation since his election defeat on Sunday to leftist incumbent President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Brazilian Senator Flavio Bolsonaro has left the country for the United States after losing Sunday's presidential election and refusing to comply with a Supreme Court order to hand over his passports, two sources said. According to Brazilian daily Folha de São Paulo citing sources close to the family, “the Trump administration is aware of Flavio Bolsonaro's departure for the United States and will grant asylum to the Liberal Party senator.” According to these sources, the ultra-conservative senator “is expected to arrive in Miami or Dallas in the coming hours. He is said to have travelled with his wife, Fernanda, and their two daughters.” The US Embassy in Brazil did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Bolsonaro's lawyer also did not respond. It was not immediately clear what time Bolsonaro would arrive or whether he would seek asylum. US President Donald Trump's administration has previously alleged that Flavio's father, former president Jair Bolsonaro, was a victim of judicial persecution in Brazil. Flavio's departure for the United States threatens to deepen a rift between the two most populous nations in the Americas. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has accused Washington of colluding with the Bolsonaros to put them back in power, and Reuters reported ahead of Sunday's election on a US State Department campaign to restore them to office. Watch moreComeback kid: How did Brazil's veteran leader Lula upset Bolsonaro? Bolsonaro was favoured to win Sunday's presidential election but ended up losing in a shock result to leftist Lula. On Monday, he was given 24 hours to hand in his passports as part of a money laundering probe in which he denies wrongdoing, but that deadline lapsed, two other sources said, leading to his documents being cancelled. It was unclear if he could seek entry to the United States with his passports cancelled. Read moreFlavio Bolsonaro vows to lead opposition after Brazil court imposes travel ban Jair Bolsonaro also went to the United States after refusing to concede to Lula in 2022, when former US president Joe Biden was in office. He eventually returned to Brazil but was later given a 27-year sentence for plotting a coup after his supporters stormed government buildings in Brasilia. His son has yet to officially concede defeat – saying on Sunday he would seek the annulment of the result over alleged voter irregularities – but his Liberal Party said on Monday it acknowledged Lula's victory. It remains unclear how Bolsonaro was able to leave the country while he was facing a 24-hour Supreme Court deadline to hand over his passports. A senior Brazilian Federal Police official said Bolsonaro had not exited the country via any regular migration point. Right-wing influencer Paulo Figueiredo, who serves as a sort of unofficial spokesperson for the Bolsonaro family, declined to answer questions about Bolsonaro's whereabouts. "After months of intense work that has been unfairly thwarted, I am not in the mood to speak to the press," he said in a message. "If I have any comments to make on any matter, I will get in touch." Eduardo Bolsonaro, Bolsonaro's younger brother who lives in the United States, said ahead of the vote that an election loss would require a move. "If my brother does not win, I'm in favour that he would leave the country," he told podcaster Steven Crowder this month. (FRANCE 24 with Reuters) Keywords for this article