Flavio Bolsonaro Flies to Florida After Defeat, Defying a Travel Ban

Flavio Bolsonaro Flies to Florida After Defeat, Defying a Travel Ban

A comeback win seals Lula's fourth term

Brazil's runoff on October 25 gave incumbent Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, 81, a come-from-behind victory over Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, 45. With 100 percent of votes counted, Lula took 51.79 percent against Bolsonaro's 48.21 percent: more than 64 million votes to fewer than 60 million, a gap of nearly 4.4 million ballots, or almost 4 points. Bolsonaro had led the first round with 47.03 percent to Lula's 45.16 percent, making Lula the first candidate since the 1989 two-round system to lose round one and win round two.

A denial on Monday, a flight on Tuesday

On Monday, Bolsonaro posted a video saying he had no plans to leave Brazil and was organizing congressional opposition to the result. By Tuesday, multiple outlets reported he had left the country with his wife Fernanda and their two daughters, bound for Florida. Reuters cited an ally of the senator and a U.S. official; CNN cited two sources saying he was on a flight to Florida. The turnaround from denial to departure took barely a day.

Passports cancelled after a missed 24-hour deadline

Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who also oversaw the coup case against Bolsonaro's father, issued an order on Sunday, October 25, barring the senator from leaving Brazil and ordering him to surrender his ordinary and diplomatic passports within 24 hours. Police said he was served on Monday outside the home where his father is under house arrest. The deadline expired late Tuesday morning without compliance, and Federal Police cancelled his passports in their system and began trying to locate him. A senior Federal Police official said he used no regular migration point. Argentina's authorities said they had no record of his entry, despite reports he crossed into Argentina to board a private jet. His brother Eduardo called the escape reports lies.

A money-laundering probe and an expiring shield

The passport order is part of a money-laundering investigation, which Bolsonaro denies. He faces at least two federal probes, one tied to his relationship with the former owner of Banco Master, at the center of Brazil's biggest bank fraud. Assets of up to 6 billion reais linked to a lawyer in the same case were frozen. His eight-year Senate term expires on January 31, 2027, when he loses special jurisdiction before the Supreme Court. His father, former President Jair Bolsonaro, is serving a 27-year sentence under house arrest for attempting a coup after his 2022 loss to Lula.

No concession, and a new strain on two nations

Flavio Bolsonaro has refused to concede, alleging fraud over extended voting hours and seeking annulment of the result, while his own Liberal Party acknowledged Lula's victory on Monday. Lula has accused Washington of working with the Bolsonaro family to return it to power; the Trump administration has cast Jair Bolsonaro as a victim of judicial persecution. The departure sharpens that friction: whether the senator seeks asylum, how Washington responds, and how Moraes punishes the apparent breach of a travel ban are the questions now in focus.