Brazilian Senator Flavio Bolsonaro has left the country and gone to the United States after losing the presidential election, Reuters reported, citing two Brazilian officials. Bolsonaro lost the vote to incumbent President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
The departure came after the Supreme Court gave him 24 hours to hand over his passports in connection with a money laundering investigation. Bolsonaro denies the charges. According to two officials, the deadline expired without the documents being handed over, and his passports were canceled.
A senior federal police official said the senator did not leave Brazil through any of the official border crossings. That leaves the route he took to reach the United States unclear.
Bolsonaro had previously said he would comply with the order but would challenge it. "I will hand over my passports and defend myself against this absurdity," he said in a video released by his team. The information about his trip cited by Reuters was not accompanied by public comment from either the U.S. Embassy in Brazil or his lawyer.
Bolsonaro did not concede defeat
Flavio Bolsonaro said after the election that he would seek the annulment of the results due to alleged voting irregularities. The liberal party that nominated him, however, recognized Lula da Silva's victory.
The case is reminiscent of the actions of his father Jair Bolsonaro after losing the 2022 presidential election. At that time, the former president left for the United States without recognizing Lula da Silva's victory, but later returned to Brazil. Jair Bolsonaro was sentenced to 27 years in prison for planning a coup d'état.
Eduardo Bolsonaro, Flavio's younger brother, lives in the United States. Before the vote, he said that if Flavio lost the election, he would have to leave the country. Following the reports of his trip, it remains to be seen whether and when Brazilian authorities will take further action on the investigation and the violation of the court order.
Sources: bta.bg, reuters.com, euronews.com