Flavio Bolsonaro arrives in Miami after leaving Brazil amid corruption probe

Defeated Brazilian presidential candidate Flavio Bolsonaro landed in Miami on Wednesday morning after fleeing the country, ending a multi-leg journey that included stops in Argentina and Ecuador. The 45-year-old senator arrived at Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport around 9:30 a.m. Eastern Time, flanked by his wife and two daughters. He stepped from a private charter plane wearing a dark polo shirt, joining a large Brazilian community in Florida that represents the largest population of Brazilians in the United States.

Bolsonaro left Brazil late Tuesday after refusing to concede the election to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Argentinian immigration officials stated the family entered via a land border checkpoint before quickly boarding the aircraft. Flight data from Flightradar24 indicates the plane touched down in Guayaquil, Ecuador, at approximately 4:00 a.m. local time before departing for Florida. A Brazilian diplomat told the Associated Press that Bolsonaro used an Italian passport to enter Argentina, a route that bypasses standard scrutiny for Brazilians leaving via land borders.

The U.S. State Department approved visas for Bolsonaro and his family earlier this week. President Donald Trump, a close ally of the Bolsonaro family, said the former candidate is welcome in the United States. Trump described Bolsonaro and his family as fine people while criticizing the Brazilian vote. He told reporters at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland that the election was strange and terrible, claiming without cited evidence that the process was rigged.

Lula, who turned 81 on Tuesday, responded to the departure from outside the presidential residence in Brasília. He addressed a crowd of supporters, expressing regret that Bolsonaro left instead of remaining in Brazil to prove the accusations against him were false. Lula called the act of leaving the country shameful. The re-elected president won the runoff on Sunday by a margin of approximately 4.4 million votes, a result endorsed by the Organization of American States and leaders worldwide.

Bolsonaro is currently under investigation by Brazil's Supreme Court for corruption, money laundering, and tax evasion. The court ordered him to surrender his regular and diplomatic passports by noon on Tuesday, though it remained unclear if he complied. He is accused of using a sports betting company to launder fraudulent deductions from government pensions and accepting millions of dollars from a disgraced banker. Bolsonaro has denied wrongdoing in all cases.

The senator’s exit may strain diplomatic relations between Brasília and Buenos Aires. Argentine President Javier Milei, another Trump ally, did not comment directly on the defeat. However, presidential spokesperson Juan Pablo Carreira stated on social media that Milei’s administration rescued Bolsonaro from the claws of communism, which seeks to imprison opposition figures. Brazilian government representatives had not responded to requests for comment by Wednesday.

Before leaving, Bolsonaro visited his father, former President Jair Bolsonaro, who is serving a 27-year sentence under house arrest for an attempted coup. Jair Bolsonaro had previously fled to Florida after losing the 2022 election before returning to Brazil three months later. Flavio Bolsonaro said in a video on Monday that he was organizing opposition to the results among congressional colleagues. His term as a senator expires on January 31, 2027.

The United States has imposed double-digit sanctions on Brazil, Latin America’s largest economy. Lula’s government has pursued a nonalignment policy, deepening trade ties with China and seeking influence through the BRICS group of emerging economies. The diplomatic friction underscores the tension between the new Brazilian administration and its U.S. counterpart.