In short
- Flávio Bolsonaro, 45, lost Brazil’s presidential run-off to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva with 48.21% of the vote against 51.79%, a margin of 4.4 million votes.
- Brazil’s Supreme Court gave Flávio Bolsonaro 24 hours on Monday to surrender his passports and cancelled them on Tuesday after he missed the deadline.
- Sources told BBC Brasil and BBC Mundo that Flávio Bolsonaro met his younger brother Eduardo Bolsonaro in Florida.
- A senior US official confirmed the State Department would issue visas to Flávio Bolsonaro and his family and allow them entry to the United States.
- Flávio Bolsonaro has not been charged in the money-laundering investigation and denies the allegations.
Flávio Bolsonaro, defeated by Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in Brazil’s presidential run-off, has arrived in the United States, sources told the BBC, hours after Brazil’s Supreme Court had his passports cancelled on Tuesday when he missed a deadline to hand them over.
The 45-year-old senator left Brazil after the court ordered him to surrender the documents as part of an investigation into alleged money laundering. Flávio Bolsonaro has not been charged and denies the allegations.
Why were Flávio Bolsonaro’s passports cancelled?
On Monday, Brazil’s Supreme Court gave Flávio Bolsonaro 24 hours to hand his passports to police. They were cancelled on Tuesday after that deadline passed, prompting speculation that he had left the country.
Once the deadline lapsed, his lawyers told BBC Brasil they were “completely in the dark” about his whereabouts. “We knew nothing about this, and we still have no information about what happened,” one lawyer said.
Where is Flávio Bolsonaro now?
Sources told BBC Brasil and BBC Mundo that Flávio Bolsonaro met his younger brother, Eduardo Bolsonaro, in Florida. His travel route from Brazil is unclear, as is whether anyone accompanied him or whether he intends to stay in the United States.
A senior US official confirmed that the State Department would issue visas to Flávio Bolsonaro and his family and allow them entry. Eduardo Bolsonaro lives in Texas and was in Miami on Sunday, where he cast his vote. Neither brother could be reached directly for comment.
Federal officers checked border crossings to establish whether Flávio Bolsonaro had travelled to neighbouring Argentina, a police source told BBC News Brasil. Argentine authorities told the BBC there was no record of him entering the country through any border crossing.
What did Flávio Bolsonaro say before leaving?
On Monday, Flávio Bolsonaro said he had no plans to leave Brazil and insisted he would stay to lead the opposition to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who won Sunday’s run-off. He has made no public statements since a video he posted on social media on Monday afternoon.
Which investigations does he face?
One inquiry concerns alleged links to a Brazilian lawyer accused of laundering more than $1bn through a fraud scheme. Police said earlier this month that Flávio Bolsonaro had access to the bank accounts of a company owned by the lawyer. He denied doing business with the lawyer and described the confiscation of his passports as an attempt to intimidate him.
Flávio Bolsonaro was already under investigation for alleged corruption over the financing of a film about his father, former president Jair Bolsonaro, who was convicted of plotting a coup and is under house arrest. On Tuesday, the Supreme Court also ordered police to examine his electoral campaign over alleged foreign funding.
How did the election result unfold?
Lula took 51.79% in the run-off against 48.21% for Flávio Bolsonaro, a margin of 4.4 million votes, after reversing a first-round deficit to win a fourth term. Flávio Bolsonaro had won the first round on 4 October against Lula, and opinion polls had put him narrowly ahead for the second round.
He has not conceded and has called for the result to be annulled, arguing that a two-hour extension of polling on election day put him at a disadvantage. The extension was requested by both his Liberal Party and Lula’s party and was ordered by a Supreme Court justice; Flávio Bolsonaro called it a “dirty trick”. The Liberal Party has accepted the result but said the extension “merits investigation”.
Frequently asked questions
Why were Flávio Bolsonaro’s passports cancelled?
Brazil’s Supreme Court ordered Flávio Bolsonaro to hand over his passports within 24 hours as part of an investigation into alleged money laundering, and cancelled them on Tuesday after he missed the deadline. He has not been charged and denies the allegations.
Where did Flávio Bolsonaro travel after the election?
Sources told BBC Brasil and BBC Mundo that Flávio Bolsonaro arrived in the United States and met his younger brother, Eduardo Bolsonaro, in Florida. His exact travel route from Brazil has not been established.
Who won Brazil’s presidential run-off?
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva won with 51.79% of the vote against 48.21% for Flávio Bolsonaro, a margin of 4.4 million votes. Flávio Bolsonaro has not conceded and has asked for the result to be annulled.
With reporting from BBC News.
Stock image, not from the events described. Airport Terminal — Matt Moloney / Wikimedia Commons (CC0 1.0)
