Defeated Brazilian presidential candidate Flavio Bolsonaro is set to enter the United States after losing Sunday’s election, as reports emerged that he had traveled to the country despite a court order barring him from leaving Brazil.
The U.S. State Department said Tuesday it would issue visas to Bolsonaro and his family, allowing them to enter the United States. However, officials did not confirm his travel plans.
CNN and The Washington Post reported Tuesday, citing unnamed sources, that the 45-year-old senator had arrived in the United States. His reported arrival comes amid questions over his whereabouts and whether he left Brazil in violation of a court order.
Bolsonaro, the son of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, lost the presidential election to incumbent Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Sunday. He has refused to concede defeat and said he would lead the opposition to Lula’s government.
The senator said Monday that a Supreme Court justice had ordered him to surrender his passports. He is under investigation for alleged corruption and money laundering and is also set to lose parliamentary immunity following his election defeat.
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A Brazilian police source told AFP that Bolsonaro’s Brazilian and diplomatic passports had been canceled. The source added that “there is no formal record of Flavio Bolsonaro leaving the country.”
However, Bolsonaro has held Italian nationality since 2023, according to an Italian parliamentary document reviewed by AFP.
His reported departure has also left members of his own political camp seeking answers. Campaign manager Rogerio Marinho said Tuesday that he did not know where Bolsonaro was.
“We still don’t have any news about his whereabouts,” Marinho told reporters in Brasilia.
“I received a text message from him this morning, where he said he would let some time pass today and then would talk with us, and that was it,” Marinho said. “That was the only communication we had.”
Lula criticized the reports of Bolsonaro’s departure, calling it a “shameful” act.
“A person who sneaks out of their country must have something to hide. The act of leaving Brazil is shameful,” Lula said in Brasilia during celebrations for his 81st birthday.
Bolsonaro, meanwhile, denied Monday that he intended to leave Brazil, describing the court’s restriction as an attempt to intimidate him.
“I never had any intention of leaving the country,” he said in a video posted on Instagram.
The developments come as Bolsonaro faces an uncertain political future after losing the election. He had campaigned on a promise to free his father, who is under house arrest following his conviction over a plot to overturn the 2022 election results.
Jair Bolsonaro lost that election to Lula but never formally conceded defeat. He left Brazil shortly before his rival’s inauguration and returned three months later.
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Flavio Bolsonaro had emerged as a strong contender after winning the first round of voting earlier this month. However, Lula secured victory in Sunday’s runoff with 51.8% of the vote.
The defeated candidate has challenged the result, arguing that the decision to extend polling hours because of transportation difficulties prevented some voters from casting ballots. Both campaigns had requested an extension, with Lula citing transportation problems and Bolsonaro pointing to bad weather in parts of the country.
The election dispute has also drawn attention in Washington. President Donald Trump, a close ally of Jair Bolsonaro, described Brazil’s election as “rigged” on Monday following Flavio Bolsonaro’s defeat.
Flavio’s brother, Eduardo Bolsonaro, a former Brazilian lawmaker based in the United States, also maintains close ties with the White House. Last week, Eduardo told a U.S. podcast that his brother should leave Brazil if he lost the election, citing the ongoing investigations into his activities.
Separately, Brazil’s Supreme Court ordered police Tuesday to investigate alleged foreign funding of Flavio Bolsonaro’s campaign and possible foreign interference, including claims of social media manipulation.
Lula’s campaign had accused Meta, the parent company of WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram, of influencing the election through what it described as “algorithmic manipulation.”
Meta has denied taking action to favor either candidate. The company previously said some of Lula’s campaign advertisements had been mistakenly deactivated because of technical errors.