A jet carrying Brazilian far-right Senator Flávio Bolsonaro has landed in Miami, Florida. The losing candidate in Sunday’s presidential runoff left the airport under police escort without speaking to the press. The Gulfstream IV, registered as LV-JQW, had left Guayaquil, Ecuador, earlier that day.
After losing Sunday’s election to incumbent President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Bolsonaro disappeared for more than 24 hours until Argentina’s migration authorities said he had entered the country by land on Tuesday night. There, he boarded the Gulfstream IV. The aircraft had been parked at Puerto Iguazú airport since the early hours of the previous morning, when the first reports emerged in Argentine media that he intended to flee on it.
Bolsonaro, the son of jailed former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, boarded the jet with his wife and two daughters at about 11:30 pm, bound for Guayaquil, reportedly to avoid Brazilian airspace. They made a brief stop in Ecuador and continued on to Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport.
Bolsonaro and his family got off the plane and briefly remained inside the airport. Then they emerged, shielded by black umbrellas, climbed into a dark gray Ford Expedition MAX, and sped away under police escort. He said nothing before getting into the vehicle. He is expected to hold a press conference in the US today or tomorrow.
A senior US State Department official told media outlets that visas would be granted to Bolsonaro and his family, and on Tuesday night Donald Trump said he would approve their move to the country.
“They’re fine people. The election was very strange, and I thought it was terrible,” Trump said as he returned from a campaign event in Texas. “I didn’t take sides, you know. I know them both. I know Lula. I know Flávio a little bit. I know the father very well.”
Lula called Bolsonaro’s flight “shameful.” “This is what the Bolsonaro family are like. Brazil is their second homeland. Their first homeland is licking the boots of the US, as they’ve become accustomed to doing,” he said at an event celebrating his 81st birthday in Brasília.
Some in the Brazilian government suspected Bolsonaro allies had spent Tuesday privately telling the press he was already on his way to the US to distract from his real plan to go through Argentina. The federal police are facing criticism for failing to prevent him from leaving the country.
There is a gap between the last time he was seen by allies at about 6 pm on Monday and the moment he entered Argentina late on Tuesday. It remains unclear how or when he traveled to the border, or where he was during that time.
Footage from a television channel there shows two vans crossing the border checkpoint and then being escorted by airport security officers to the airport.
The Argentine newspaper Página/12 reported that the aircraft belonged to businessman Sergio Daniel Mastropietro, who was investigated by local police in one of the biggest scandals of Javier Milei’s administration, involving the alleged payment of bribes linked to the purchase of medicines for people with disabilities.
Bolsonaro is under investigation in at least two criminal cases, one of them examining suspicions that the senator was involved in a money-laundering scheme worth about £680m ($905m) involving betting companies.
It was in connection with that case that, shortly after the election result, Brazilian police asked the Supreme Court to order Bolsonaro’s passport to be retained over concerns he could flee, citing an interview given last Friday by his brother, former congressman Eduardo Bolsonaro.
Speaking on a podcast in the US, where he is in self-imposed exile and lobbying the Trump administration against Lula, Eduardo said that if his brother were to lose the election, he should not concede and should go to the US.The report said the escape had been planned for weeks as a contingency in case he lost, and that Eduardo had been its main organizer, holding talks with US officials about receiving the senator. Fleeing Brazil has almost become standard practice among Bolsonaro supporters facing criminal charges or convictions in the country: about a dozen politicians or influencers closely aligned with Jair Bolsonaro have done the same in recent years. The former president himself spent three months in Florida shortly after losing the 2022 election. He later returned to Brazil and, while facing trial over the attempted coup, spent two nights at the Hungarian embassy in Brasília, then run by his ally Viktor Orbán. While under house arrest after being sentenced to 27 years in prison, the patriarch of the Bolsonaro clan used a soldering iron in an attempt to destroy his electronic ankle monitor.
Frequently Asked Questions
FAQs Flávio Bolsonaro Arriving in Miami After Brazils 2022 Election
1 Who is Flávio Bolsonaro
He is a Brazilian senator and the eldest son of former president Jair Bolsonaro
2 What happened after the 2022 Brazilian election
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva defeated Jair Bolsonaro Before the results were even confirmed Flávio Bolsonaro was already in Miami Florida
3 When did Flávio arrive in Miami
He traveled to the US in late October 2022 arriving around October 28two days before the runoff election on October 30
4 Why was he in Miami
He said it was a personal trip He was seen at a resort in the Miami area in the days after the election
5 Did he go there to avoid the election results
Theres no confirmed evidence of that He left before the vote and called it a personal trip though critics questioned the timing
6 Did Jair Bolsonaro also go to Florida
Yes The former president flew to Florida in late December 2022 before Lulas inauguration on January 1 2023 He did not attend the handover ceremony
7 Was Flávio accused of anything related to the trip
No specific charges were tied to the Miami trip itself He faced separate legal issues in Brazil including investigations into his Senate office
8 Did he return to Brazil
Yes he returned and continued serving as a senator
9 Why does this matter politically
It fueled debate about whether Bolsonaro allies were distancing themselves from the election outcome and it drew attention to the familys US ties
10 Is it illegal for a Brazilian politician to travel abroad after an election
No Traveling abroad is legal The controversy was political not legal
11 Whats a practical takeaway for following this story
Check dates carefullyFlávio left before the election result which is often misreported Verify timelines with reliable sources
12 Where can I learn more
Major Brazilian outlets and international outlets covered the story in late 2022
