State Department Says It Will Grant Visas to Flávio Bolsonaro and Family as Three Sources Say He Left Brazil Despite Passport Order

Since Flávio Bolsonaro lost the Oct. 25 runoff to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, his party has recognized the result, he has pivoted from seeking annulment to seeking Lula's disqualification, and he was served a Supreme Court order to surrender his passports. Today, Tuesday, Oct. 27, that last thread snapped.

Three people with knowledge of the matter said Bolsonaro left Brazil for the United States on Tuesday, in defiance of the order. A senior State Department official said the department "will issue visas to Flávio Bolsonaro and his family and allow them entry into the United States." The official spoke anonymously, citing visa privacy laws, and did not say whether he had already left or was en route.

The passport order and the missed deadline

Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes issued the sealed order Sunday in a money-laundering case. It barred Bolsonaro from leaving the country. Its stated concerns, according to a Reuters account of the order, were a flight risk and his "significant financial resources."

Federal police served the order Monday outside the Brasília home where his father, former President Jair Bolsonaro, is serving a 27-year sentence for the 2022 coup plot. The deadline to hand over the regular and diplomatic passports expired at noon Tuesday. Two sources told Reuters the passports were cancelled after the deadline passed.

Bolsonaro denies any wrongdoing in the investigation, which covers alleged corruption, money laundering and tax or currency evasion. In a Monday video he called the order a response to remarks by his brother Eduardo, who lives in Texas and had urged him to leave Brazil if he lost.

On Monday he also said he had "never thought about leaving the country" and would stay to lead the opposition.

What is confirmed and what is not

The flight itself rests on anonymous accounts. Bolsonaro's allies told the newspaper Folha de S.Paulo that he was heading to the U.S. U.S. officials confirmed his departure to CNN and Reuters, according to Euronews. A source close to the family told Reuters he had landed in Florida but would not say where. Brazilian outlets have pointed to Miami and said he was traveling with his wife and two daughters.

Brazilian authorities have not publicly confirmed the departure. A police source told AFP there was "no formal record" of him leaving. Bolsonaro himself has not commented.

Campaign manager Rogério Marinho said he had not spoken to him since early Tuesday. "I received a text message from him, he said he wanted to take a break and then he would talk to us," Marinho said.

An earlier report from the Argentine outlet Infobae put Bolsonaro in Puerto Iguazú on a route to the U.S. Argentina's government denied it. Its Migrations Office said it had "no record of any entry by Flavio Bolsonaro into the Argentine Republic," and a spokesperson said no asylum request had been made there.

Reaction in Brasília and Washington

Lula, speaking at an event for his 81st birthday, called the departure shameful. "He who owes nothing, fears nothing," he said. "A citizen who sneaks out of his country owes something." He also said Brazil is the Bolsonaro family's "second country" and the U.S. their first.

Lawmakers from Lula's Workers' Party have asked the Supreme Court to order Bolsonaro's arrest and to request an Interpol Red Notice. The court has not announced a decision.

In Washington, Democratic Rep. Joaquin Castro said Trump should tell Congress whether his administration played a role in the exit. "Losing an election is not grounds for asylum," Castro said. Allies cited by the Brazilian outlet Metrópoles said Bolsonaro planned to request political asylum. The State Department official's statement addressed visas only, not asylum.

Trump said Monday that Brazil's vote "looked like another rigged election," adding, "I didn't take sides." He offered no evidence. Asked whether he would act on the election, he said, "I am not running Brazil, I'm running the USA." No verified evidence of fraud has been presented. Bolsonaro's grievance centers on the Supreme Court's two-hour extension of voting on Sunday, which both campaigns had requested for different reasons. Lula won by about 4.4 million votes, just over 51% of valid votes.

A family pattern

The move echoes Jair Bolsonaro's trip to Florida after losing in 2022; he returned three months later. Eduardo Bolsonaro was convicted in absentia in June of illegally lobbying the Trump administration and sentenced to four years, and an arrest warrant was recently issued for him. Flávio also reportedly holds Italian citizenship, which could give him another travel document.

Lula's government has accused the Bolsonaro family of courting U.S. interference. The Trump administration has said Jair Bolsonaro was the target of judicial persecution.

What comes next is the Supreme Court's response to the arrest and Red Notice request, and whether Bolsonaro, once he surfaces, says on the record that he left. Brazil's Supreme Court has not said how it would seek his return if he is confirmed to be in the U.S.