Flávio Bolsonaro and Family to Get US Visas After Election Loss to Lula in Brazil

The United States plans to issue visas to Brazilian politician Flávio Bolsonaro and his family and allow them to enter the country. A senior US State Department official said so on Tuesday, Oct. 27, after Bolsonaro lost last weekend's runoff to incumbent President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

"The State Department will issue visas to Flávio Bolsonaro and his family and permit them to enter the United States," the official said. He spoke on condition of anonymity, citing visa confidentiality rules. He did not say whether Bolsonaro had already left Brazil.

Investigations and deadline for passports

Bolsonaro is being investigated in Brazil for money laundering, among other things; according to AP, also for corruption and tax evasion. He had been ordered to surrender his regular and his diplomatic passports. According to AP, the deadline expired at noon on Tuesday; other reports put it at 11 a.m. local time. It is unclear whether he complied with the order.

Brazil's Federal Police have canceled both passports, a police source told AFP. Lula's Workers' Party (PT) requested pretrial detention for Bolsonaro as well as an international arrest alert through Interpol (a Red Notice).

Conflicting accounts of his departure

Two sources told the news agency Reuters that Bolsonaro left Brazil overnight into Tuesday. US officials confirmed to Reuters that he is on his way to the United States. However, a police source told the news agency AFP that there is no formal record of his exit.

According to family circles, Bolsonaro is traveling to Miami with his wife and two daughters. His arrival there had not initially been confirmed. According to Federal Police sources cited by Correio Braziliense, Bolsonaro intends to enter on an Italian passport that he reportedly has held since 2023. Argentina rejected reports that Bolsonaro was entering the country.

Mexican lawyer Simón Levy claimed that Bolsonaro had been granted asylum; this has not been confirmed. A visa does not automatically mean asylum and does not guarantee entry. A spokesman for Bolsonaro did not respond to a request for comment on Tuesday, and his campaign manager Rogério Marinho declined to comment.

Close ties to Trump

Bolsonaro had the tacit support of US President Donald Trump and publicly highlighted his relationship with him. He visited the White House in May. Trump did not issue an explicit endorsement before the runoff, as he did for other center-right candidates in Latin America. On Monday, Oct. 26, however, he suggested without evidence that the election in Brazil had been "rigged."

Lula's victory ran counter to a trend of conservative election results in Latin America. Bolsonaro's brother Eduardo Bolsonaro, who lives in Texas, had publicly encouraged him to leave Brazil in the event of a defeat. Eduardo Bolsonaro was sentenced in absentia to four years in prison in June; according to AP, for illegal lobbying of the Trump administration. An arrest warrant was recently issued for him.