Defeated Brazilian presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro left the country for the United States after refusing a court order to surrender his passports, with the US State Department confirming visas for him and his family.
Flávio Bolsonaro left Brazil for the United States on Tuesday after losing Sunday’s presidential runoff to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, defying a Supreme Court order to surrender his passports in a money-laundering probe.
A senior US State Department official confirmed that visas would be issued to Bolsonaro and his family to allow entry; Argentine authorities reported he briefly entered from Brazil before flying onward via Ecuador.
Bolsonaro has not conceded the election and faces investigations for alleged corruption and money laundering, which he denies; his departure followed the noon deadline to hand over documents.
Reuters, the Washington Post and the Guardian reported the departure and the State Department confirmation, with no official Brazilian statement contradicting the accounts of his exit.
The move mirrors his father Jair Bolsonaro’s earlier travels and complicates efforts by his party to challenge the result while he remains abroad under US entry.