Brazilian Senator Flávio Bolsonaro left his home country for the United States on Oct. 27 following his presidential election loss, a source close to his brother, Eduardo Bolsonaro, confirmed to The Epoch Times.
Though Flávio Bolsonaro’s specific flight destination remains unknown, a senior U.S. State Department official said that Bolsonaro will be granted a U.S. visa.
“The State Department will issue visas to Flavio Bolsonaro and his family and allow them entry into the United States,” the official told The Epoch Times.
Rumors surrounding Bolsonaro’s whereabouts flared on Tuesday morning following a report by Argentine outlet Infobae, claiming he took a private jet to Argentina with plans to escape to the United States.
However, officials and close allies initially strongly denied the claim.
Senator Rogério Marinho, Bolsonaro’s campaign manager and close personal ally, had refuted the report, while Argentine authorities had also denied that Bolsonaro entered the country.
Meanwhile, Brazil’s Federal Police conducted border checks but could not find Bolsonaro’s name in customs or border records.
On Oct. 25, incumbent President Luiz Inácio “Lula” da Silva was reelected in a closely contested runoff, defeating Bolsonaro.
Lula, 81, received 51.8 percent of the vote, leading by nearly 4.4 million votes. This marks Lula’s fourth, nonconsecutive term.
After the results, Bolsonaro contested the outcome, citing a last-minute decision by a Brazilian Supreme Court Justice appointed by Lula to extend voting by two hours nationwide.
His party later accepted the result, while noting that the questions raised “need to be duly clarified within a balanced and democratic political debate.”
Bolsonaro said he would challenge the result in court.
After the election, authorities ordered Bolsonaro to surrender his passport within 24 hours to prevent him from leaving the country.
Bolsonaro, 45, had previously stated publicly that he had no intention of leaving Brazil.
Bolsonaro is the son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, who was convicted in September 2025 by Brazil’s Supreme Court for charges related to a 2022 attempted coup to overturn election results.
He received a 27-year and 3-month prison sentence and was barred from holding political office.
After initially serving time in prison, he was allowed to serve his sentence under house arrest due to poor health.
On Oct. 26, Trump said Brazil’s presidential runoff looked “rigged.”
“It looked terrible to me,” Trump told reporters. “I thought it was terrible. I didn’t take sides, but it looked like another rigged election, frankly. It was a terrible look for the world.”
The U.S. president said he didn’t endorse Lula or his opponent Bolsonaro.
Both candidates asked for additional voting time. Flávio Bolsonaro asked for extra poll time in the conservative-leaning southern region, citing heavy rain.
Lula asked the Supreme Court to extend poll time after reports of transportation issues in two cities that favored the incumbent.
Bolsonaro argued that the decision by Lula’s former lawyer, Supreme Court Justice Cristiano Zanin, to extend voting by two hours just three minutes before voting was scheduled to end was unacceptable and that the rules had been changed late in the election process.
“It is impossible—it is impossible—to recognize the election results in the context of how these things happened,” Bolsonaro told supporters.
The late decision sparked widespread confusion after many polling stations started shutting down. Bolsonaro also alleged his poll watchers were removed from secure ballot counting rooms when the decision was made.
Trump said the election process and resulting public outrage didn’t reflect well on the country’s image.
“Elections have to be indisputable,” Trump said. “And it looked very bad to me. I didn’t take sides, I didn’t endorse anybody. I watched the election, and it looked so corrupt, so terrible.”
Trillionaire X owner Elon Musk questioned the final result numbers in an X post on Oct. 26.
“Math doesn’t add up,” Musk posted.
Bolsonaro led the first round of elections three weeks ago with 47 percent of the vote, compared to Lula’s 45 percent.
Jill McLaughlin, Tom Gantert, and Aldgra Fredly contributed to this report.
