The United States will grant Flávio Bolsonaro a visa after the Brazilian senator reportedly left the country following his decisive defeat to incumbent President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in Sunday’s election, a senior State Department official said.
The official told Our News Outlet on Tuesday that visas would be issued to Bolsonaro and his family, allowing them to enter the United States.
The announcement came only hours after Bolsonaro departed Brazil. He had reportedly followed the advice of his brother, Eduardo Bolsonaro, who lives in Texas and had publicly urged him to leave the country if he lost the election.
A spokesperson for Bolsonaro did not respond to a request for comment, while his campaign manager, Rogério Marinho, also declined to comment.
Bolsonaro has highlighted his ties to President Donald Trump and visited the White House in May. The family’s links to the Trump administration run deeper: Eduardo Bolsonaro was convicted in absentia in June for illegally lobbying the administration. He received a four-year prison sentence, and authorities recently issued a warrant for his arrest.
Trump stopped short of giving Flávio Bolsonaro the unequivocal backing he has offered other right-wing candidates in Latin America during their runoff campaigns. However, on Monday he claimed, without presenting evidence, that Brazil’s election had been “rigged.”
Bolsonaro’s reported departure came as a Tuesday noon deadline to surrender both his regular and diplomatic passports expired. It was not immediately clear whether he had complied with the order.
Flávio Bolsonaro is set to receive a US visa after reportedly leaving Brazil
Bolsonaro lost Sunday’s presidential election to incumbent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. The pair are shown during a televised debate last week
Bolsonaro was served with the passport order on Monday, one day after his unexpected defeat.
The conservative candidate said he received the order outside the home of his father, former President Jair Bolsonaro, who is serving a 27-year sentence under house arrest for attempting a coup after losing the 2022 election to Lula. Jair Bolsonaro fled to Florida after that defeat before returning to Brazil three months later.
Brazil’s Supreme Court issued the sealed order on Sunday, according to a copy reviewed by The Associated Press. Bolsonaro has refused to concede and has made unsubstantiated claims of electoral fraud.
He has continued to challenge the election result, raising questions about the vote he lost.
His first request sought to annul the election after disorder at several polling stations led authorities to extend voting by two hours.
On Monday, he asked the electoral court to investigate alleged fraud and invalidate the candidacies of Lula and Vice President Geraldo Alckmin—an unprecedented move for the court.
“I never thought about leaving the country,” Bolsonaro said in a video posted to social media. “I will hand over my passports and defend myself against this aberration. It is a clear attempt to intimidate me. But I will not be silenced.”
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To overturn the outcome, Bolsonaro would need to produce evidence that fraud affected Lula’s 4.4 million-vote advantage and persuade the eight-member electoral court before certification scheduled for December 18.
Lula, who turned 81 on Tuesday, won more than 64 million votes, compared with fewer than 60 million for Bolsonaro—a margin of almost 4 percent.
In a video released Monday, Bolsonaro said he had no intention of leaving Brazil and was instead working to rally congressional allies against the election result. His eight-year Senate term ends on January 31, 2027, at which point he will also lose his special jurisdiction before the country’s Supreme Court.
Brazil’s Supreme Court is investigating Bolsonaro in two cases involving alleged corruption, money laundering and tax evasion. In one case, he is accused of using a sports-betting company to launder fraudulent deductions from pension payments made to older citizens. In the other, prosecutors allege he accepted millions of dollars from a disgraced banker.
Bolsonaro has denied wrongdoing in both matters. He has also accused Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who is overseeing one of the investigations, of being aligned with Lula.
Court documents indicate prosecutors suspect money received from the banker was used to cover expenses for Eduardo Bolsonaro and advance Flávio Bolsonaro’s political efforts with the Trump administration.
Mauricio Marcon, a lawmaker from Bolsonaro’s Liberal Party, also questioned de Moraes’ impartiality on Tuesday.
“Seven minutes after the election, Alexandre de Moraes ordered his passports seized,” Marcon said. Bolsonaro “will represent us in a free country. He will remain our leader.”
Supporters of Liberal Party presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro
Brazilians had earlier turned to social media seeking information about Bolsonaro’s whereabouts
Earlier, Brazilians used social media to ask where Bolsonaro was. Reporters gathered outside his home in Brasília, but the senator did not appear.
Argentina’s Ministry of Security rejected reports that the Brazilian senator had entered the country. Brazilian media also reported that several of Bolsonaro’s allies had been unable to contact him.
Paulo Figueiredo, a close Bolsonaro ally who lives in the United States, was asked about the senator’s location but did not answer directly.
“At this moment—after months of intense work that was unfairly thwarted—I have no desire to speak with the press. I kindly ask you not to persist. If I have a statement to make on any matter, I will reach out,” Figueiredo said.
The Daily Mail has contacted the US State Department for comment.
