US will issue visas to Flávio Bolsonaro and his family after he fled Brazil following his shock election defeat to Lula
Flávio Bolsonaro, son of jailed ex-president Jair, abandoned his demand for annulment of the result by Monday, pledging instead to lead the opposition.
Flávio Bolsonaro, 45, defied a Brazilian Supreme Court order to surrender his passports and fled to the United States after Sunday's presidential runoff gave Lula da Silva — the left-wing incumbent — a winning margin of nearly 4.4 million votes. The Trump administration has confirmed it will grant visas to Bolsonaro and his immediate family. Brazilian police cancelled his passports after he missed Tuesday's noon deadline, and a senior Federal Police official said he had not departed through any regular migration checkpoint.
The flight carrying Bolsonaro is understood to be heading for Florida, following the same path as his father Jair, who departed for the US in 2022 before eventually returning and receiving a 27-year sentence for plotting a coup.
Trump described Sunday's result as 'another rigged election,' and his administration had previously run a State Department campaign to restore the Bolsonaros to power, further straining relations with Lula's government.
Just one day before his departure, Bolsonaro posted a video declaring he had 'no plans to leave Brazil' and would instead organise congressional opposition to the result.
