Flávio Bolsonaro Reaches the United States After Passports Cancelled
The defeated Brazilian presidential candidate has arrived in the US, sources told the BBC. He left hours after his passports were cancelled for missing a Supreme Court deadline to surrender them in a money-laundering inquiry; he denies wrongdoing and has not been charged. Argentina says he, his wife and two daughters crossed its border and boarded a private flight to Guayaquil, Ecuador, at 11.30pm on Tuesday.
This settles yesterday’s confusion only in part. Argentina’s migration directorate now says the family travelled “with valid travel documentation and without any legal impediment”, though Argentine officials had earlier told the BBC there was no record of him entering. His route from Ecuador to Florida, where he reportedly met his brother Eduardo, is unclear. A senior US official confirmed that the State Department would issue the family visas; allies quoted by a Brazilian site say he will seek asylum, which is unconfirmed. His own lawyers say they were “completely in the dark”. President Lula, celebrating his 81st birthday, was scathing: “He who owes nothing, fears nothing … The act of leaving Brazil is shameful.”