After the presidential election in Brazil: Flávio Bolsonaro is banned from leaving the country

Flávio Bolsonaro is banned from leaving the country after the presidential election in Brazil As of: October 27, 2026 • 7:43 a.m

After the presidential election in Brazil there is more bad news for the defeated Flávio Bolsonaro. Now he is no longer allowed to leave the country and has to hand in his passports. The reason: investigations into suspected money laundering.

Two days after the runoff election for the presidency in Brazil, the defeated candidate Flávio Bolsonaro is no longer allowed to leave the country. A Supreme Court judge ordered him to surrender his passports and banned him from leaving the country. The background is an ongoing case against Bolsonaro for suspected money laundering in connection with companies and online sports betting.

Bolsonaro himself said that the federal police had asked him to hand over his passports after he visited his father Jair Bolsonaro, who is serving a prison sentence in house arrest for an attempted coup. "I never thought about leaving the country. I will hand over my passports and defend myself against this absurdity, which is a clear attempt to intimidate me," said the defeated presidential candidate of the right-wing Liberal Party in a video.

Latin America expert Maihold explains what can happen next in Brazil after the presidential election. more

In the runoff election on Sunday, incumbent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva defeated Bolsonaro with almost 52 percent of the vote. This means that the 80-year-old is about to begin his fourth term as President of Brazil.

Bolsonaro and his party initially did not recognize the election victory and initially justified this with the Supreme Court's last-minute decision to keep the polling stations open for two hours longer. The reason for the longer opening times were problems with local public transport and bad weather in parts of the country.

The challenges Lula now faces are great. The fourth term could be his most difficult. more

The party has now at least partially changed course. She declared that she would recognize Lula's election victory, but with reservations. Open questions would have to be clarified legally. The party is now denouncing that social benefits were paid out earlier than planned - namely shortly before the vote on Sunday.

Bolsonaro himself has not yet explicitly admitted his defeat and has also insisted on legal action. He wants to ensure that Lula and Vice President Geraldo Alckmin are not allowed to be sworn in during the election campaign because of alleged abuse of political and economic power.

US President Donald Trump also raised doubts about the legality and outcome of the runoff election. "I didn't take sides, but it seemed like another rigged election," he told reporters. However, Trump left open the basis on which he doubted the election result. Trump had supported former President Jair Bolsonaro as an ally before his conviction, denounced the judiciary's actions against the ex-head of state as a "witch hunt" and even threatened Brazil with massive punitive tariffs if the trial against Bolsonaro was not stopped.

This topic in the program: NDR Info | News | Oct 27, 2026 | 06:05 amtagesschau.de | Brazil: Money laundering allegations - Flavio Bolsonaro is not allowed to leave the country | Oct 27, 2026 | 6:34 a.m