O Globo, citing sources close to the family, said Bolsonaro arrived in Miami on Tuesday and met his brother Eduardo, who has lived in the United States since 2025. The BBC also confirmed his arrival.
Folha de Sao Paulo, citing anonymous sources, reported that President Donald Trump’s administration helped organise the trip and intends to grant him political asylum. A source close to the US government told the paper that Washington had “actively participated” in the plan.
A senior US official told the Associated Press that Bolsonaro and his family would receive entry visas, while the Wall Street Journal said they already had them. Folha’s sources said he travelled with his wife and two daughters.
Lula called the departure “shameful”.
“Unfortunately, that is what the Bolsonaro family is like. Brazil is their second homeland, because the first is sycophancy towards the United States”, the president said.
Bolsonaro, an ideological ally of Trump, has not conceded defeat, although his Liberal Party later accepted the result. A party lawmaker, Mauricio Marcon, said the senator had gone to seek political asylum. Bolsonaro’s lawyers and the party have not commented.
Legal troubles
Bolsonaro is under investigation in Brazil in several cases, including over alleged foreign financing of his campaign, money laundering, tax offences and corruption. He has not been charged, but a court barred him from leaving the country and ordered him to hand over his passports.
Police gave him 24 hours on Monday to surrender the documents. Media said he failed to do so, and the passports were annulled.
Experts cited by the BBC said no arrest warrant had been issued, so he was not a fugitive, but ignoring the court’s order could provide grounds for one.
How he reached the United States was not clear. Latin American media speculated he may have crossed into Argentina and flown out on a private plane, or travelled through Paraguay or Venezuela.
Argentina’s immigration authority said it had no record of him crossing the border, and government sources told La Nacion that President Javier Milei’s administration played no part in planning the trip. Folha’s sources also denied he had gone through Argentina.
Family ties
Bolsonaro’s father, former president Jair Bolsonaro, is serving a 27-year sentence for plotting a coup after losing the 2022 election. He also refused to concede then and went to the United States, but returned and was convicted last year.
Eduardo Bolsonaro, a former lawmaker, was sentenced in absentia to four years in prison for lobbying the Trump administration to impose sanctions on Brazilian officials and judges to influence his father’s trial.
(jh)
Source: PAP