Flavio Bolsonaro has passport cancelled amid reports he has fled to the United States

LAST UPDATE | 24 mins ago

BRAZIL’S FLAVIO BOLSONARO, politically isolated after refusing to accept election defeat, had his passports cancelled amid speculation over his whereabouts and reports that he had fled to the United States.

His Liberal Party has recognised the outcome of Brazil’s presidential run-off, despite the candidate’s objections to the poll won by leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Lula, who turns 81 on Tuesday, pulled off a dramatic comeback after trailing Bolsonaro in a first-round vote, a defeat which fired up the left on the streets and social media to secure him a fourth term in office.

In the end, Lula pulled around 4.4 million more votes than his rival on Sunday.

Bolsonaro, a right-wing senator and 45-year-old son of far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro, cried foul after polling was extended nationwide for two hours, at Lula’s request, due to transport problems in some cities.

The result means Bolsonaro is set to lose his parliamentary immunity as his legal woes pile up.

He last spoke publically on Monday afternoon in a video on social media saying he had been banned from leaving the country and ordered to surrender his passports.

However, while he said he would comply with the order, he had failed to do so by Tuesday afternoon.

Bolsonaro had said the order to surrender his passports was based on a comment by his US-based brother Eduardo Bolsonaro, who told a US podcast two days before the election that “if my brother does not win, I am in favour that he would leave the country.”

A Brazilian police source said Bolsonaro’s passports have been cancelled but that there was “no formal record of Flavio Bolsonaro leaving the country”.

Argentina’s security ministry and migration authorities on Tuesday denied local media reports that Bolsonaro had entered the neighbouring country.

However, it has since been reported by both Bloomberg and Reuters that Bolsonaro has fled to the US.

Bolsonaro’s father also fled to the US after refusing to concede to Lula in 2022 – he later returned and was given a 27-year sentence for plotting a coup.

Members of Flavio Bolsonaro’s inner circle did not respond to AFP requests for comment Tuesday on his movements.

AFP observed a motorcade leaving his residence in Brasilia, though it could not be determined whether the senator was inside any of the vehicles.

‘Dark Horse’

Brazilian police are probing Flavio Bolsonaro for corruption over the financing of the biopic “Dark Horse” about his father.

“I never had any intention of leaving the country. I will surrender my passports and defend myself against this travesty,” Flavio Bolsonaro said.

The right-wing candidate also took up the mantle as “leadership of the opposition” in a separate statement.

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Brazil’s markets tumbled nearly 17% and the dollar surged against the real in response to leftist Lula’s re-election, as investors worried about fiscal discipline.

Flavio slammed Lula for “an unprecedented abuse of both political and economic power,” over a flurry of social spending announcements during the campaign.

‘Concerns raised need to be addressed’

Though Bolsonaro maintained that he will seek annulment of the presidential election, his party later distanced itself from that position and opted to accept the official vote.

“We recognise the presidential election results, as proclaimed by the Superior Electoral Court (TSE), but we believe that the concerns raised need to be sufficiently addressed within a balanced and democratic political debate,” the Liberal Party said in a statement late Monday.

Flavio Bolsonaro had also requested polling stations stay open in some regions due to heavy rains, but he described the vote extension as “unacceptable” and a “dirty trick.”

While congratulations rolled in for Lula from world leaders on both sides of the political divide, Trump, an ally of the Bolsonaro family, said the election “looked terrible to me.”

“I didn’t take sides but it looked like another rigged election frankly,” he told reporters in Washington. “It looked so corrupt.”

Echo of father’s loss 

Bolsonaro’s rejection of the results echoed his father’s refusal to acknowledge losing to Lula in the 2022 elections.

Tension over that result led to hundreds of Jair Bolsonaro’s supporters storming government buildings a week after Lula’s inauguration to demand military intervention.

Jair Bolsonaro is serving a 27-year sentence under house arrest for an attempted coup to stop Lula from taking office.

Electoral court chief Kassio Nunes Marques, a Bolsonaro appointee to the Supreme Court, hailed the “successful polls” and said there “were no changes” resulting from the decision to extend voting, even if it did create difficulties.

‘Rebellious youth’

Meanwhile, the left was triumphant after securing a historic turnaround in the vote, with thousands pouring into the streets to celebrate Lula on Sunday night.

Lawyer Julio Canelo (42) hailed a victory for “the entire democratic spectrum.”

“It was the result of the people mobilizing, in the streets and online,” he told AFP.

Lula’s re-energized campaign to the cry of “Never Again Bolsonaro,” urging people to go out and vote, saw the abstention rate fall from 21% to 19% in the run-off.

The proportion of spoiled and blank votes also decreased.

“I owe this victory to the rebellious youth who rose up to defend democracy,” Lula told jubilant supporters Sunday night.

European nations, Russia, China, India, South Africa and others congratulated Lula.

Several right-wing governments in Latin America – who are close with Trump – accepted the victory, with Colombia’s President Abelardo de la Espriella saying even though he had backed Bolsonaro: “When the people speak at the ballot box, their will must be respected.”