US to grant Bolsonaro visa as he flees Brazil

WASHINGTON

Flavio Bolsonaro lost elections to Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and refused to concede defeat. (AFP Photo)

Defeated right-wing presidential candidate Flavio Bolsonaro will be granted entry into the United States, Washington said on Oct. 27, amid media reports that he has left Brazil for the country despite a court order banning his exit.

The son of jailed ex-leader Jair Bolsonaro lost the presidential election on Oct. 25 to incumbent Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and refused to concede defeat.

The U.S. State Department said it would issue visas to Bolsonaro and his family, allowing them entry into the United States, without confirming his travel plans.

The 45-year-old arrived in the United States on Oct. 27, CNN and the Washington Post reported, each citing an anonymous source. But where he landed remains unknown.

The right-wing senator on Oct. 26 said a Supreme Court justice had ordered him to hand over his passports. Bolsonaro is under investigation for alleged corruption and money laundering, and with his election loss is also set to lose parliamentary immunity.

A police source told AFP that the senator’s Brazilian and diplomatic passports had been canceled, adding that “there is no formal record of Flavio Bolsonaro leaving the country.”

But he has held Italian nationality since 2023, according to an Italian parliamentary document seen by AFP.

Bolsonaro’s campaign manager Rogerio Marinho expressed shock over reports that the defeated candidate had fled Brazil.

“We still don’t have any news about his whereabouts,” he told reporters on Oct. 27 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 called fleeing the country a “shameful” act.

“A person who sneaks out of their country must have something to hide. The act of leaving Brazil is shameful,” he remarked in Brasilia during his 81st birthday celebration.