Brazil after the election: Election loser Bolsonaro moves to the USA

Brazil's defeated presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro landed in Miami with his family on Wednesday morning. The CNN-Brazil channel reported the arrival in the USA in a live broadcast. Pictures show the senator, his wife and two daughters getting out of a Gulfstream plane.

A little later, hidden behind umbrellas, people get into a black limousine, which then drives away. It remains unclear whether Flávio and his family are in the same car, whether he will visit his brother Eduardo or what his future plans are. So far, the election loser has neither commented nor promised a press event.

Media such as the daily newspaper Folha de São Paulo and the TV station Globo TV had already reported the senator's escape on Tuesday. This was confirmed by both his stepmother Michelle and unnamed allies and representatives of the US government. Some people even reported that the loser of the election had already landed in Miami on Tuesday.

The contradictory statements about the escape were probably deliberate false information intended to distract from the actual action. According to current information from the Argentine immigration agency Migraciónes, Flávio entered the country on Tuesday night with his Italian passport. His wife and two daughters presented their Brazilian passports. That same night they flew over Ecuador towards Miami, although the plane avoided flying over Brazilian airspace.

In his video message on Monday, Bolsonaro announced that he would lead the opposition; He is not thinking of leaving the country and will hand over his passports, as requested by the Supreme Federal Judge. Allies had said that they had advised him against fleeing the country. Instead, they suggested that he acknowledge his election defeat and dedicate himself to the opposition.

Like Flávio, his father Jair had already left for the USA after his election defeat in 2022. Flávio's brother Eduardo Bolsonaro also moved to the USA in 2025, where he lobbied Trump for punitive tariffs on Brazilian goods.

Allies of the fugitive Flávio Bolsonaro, such as MP Nikolas Ferreira, attribute his secret departure to the decision of the Supreme Federal Judge Alexandre de Morães, who ordered on Monday that Flávio had to surrender his passports and was not allowed to leave the country. The decision is interpreted by Bolsonaro supporters as political persecution.

CNN reported on Wednesday that the initially critical discourse in the Chamber of Deputies was changing compared to the previous day, especially within the PL, the party of the losing candidate. A majority now supports the senator's departure and describes him as “just as persecuted” as his father Jair after his election defeat in 2022.

Already on Tuesday, when there was still no official confirmation of Flávio's escape in Brazil, the right was looking for new leaders. The chairman of the PL met, among others, with Michelle Bolsonaro, the senator-elected wife of Jair Bolsonaro, who was convicted of an attempted coup.

Before Flávio's candidacy was decided, Michelle was also in discussion as a presidential candidate and has her own following, particularly among women and evangelicals.