Flávio Bolsonaro would have left Brazil and would be traveling to the United States, despite the ban on expatriation ordered by the Supreme Court. Bolsonaro has not been seen in public since Monday and missed the deadline to hand over his passport to federal police, fueling rumors of his possible escape. Bolsonaro – who has also had Italian citizenship since 2023 – may have used his Italian passport to leave Brazil.
This was reported by the South American media, citing people close to the family of the senator, who was defeated on Sunday 25 October in the presidential election run-off by Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. The final destination would be Florida, where his brother Eduardo Bolsonaro already lives, where an arrest warrant is pending for having “attempted to interfere in the judicial processes linked to his father Jair Bolsonaro by urging US economic sanctions on Brazil”. Eduardo had publicly suggested that Flávio leave Brazil if he lost the presidential elections.
Some of the senator’s allies were reportedly alerted to his departure. According to an article in the Brazilian newspaper O Globeduring a meeting with friends and lawyers on Monday, the defeated candidate “made it clear that he feared being arrested”. A source in the United States, close to the Trump administration and the Bolsonaro family, confirmed he was aware of the trip. However, it is not clear from which airport he left and which plane he used. No authority has so far officially confirmed that the senator has left Brazilian territory.
The mystery of the private jet and Argentina’s denial
The story began in the night between Monday and Tuesday, when the Argentine website Infobae reported a possible transfer of Flávio Bolsonaro across the border with Argentina. The senator was supposed to reach Puerto Iguazú, in the province of Misiones, and board a Gulfstream G400 of the Baires Fly company, bound for the United States. The jet, identified by the acronym LV-JQW, had arrived from Buenos Aires shortly before midnight on Monday 26 October. The departure for the USA was scheduled for around 2 in the morning, but according to verifications published by the Brazilian and Argentine media the plane did not take off at the indicated time.
The Argentine authorities have denied the reconstruction. The National Directorate of Migration declared that it had no record of Flávio Bolsonaro’s entry into the country, further specifying that, after the checks carried out on the aircraft, there was no flight plan that included family members.
The message before disappearing and the passports cancelled
In the early hours of Tuesday, Flávio Bolsonaro could not even be reached by several of his collaborators. The last known communication was sent at 8 am to Rogério Marinho, coordinator of his electoral campaign. Bolsonaro would have explained that he wanted to take some time to ease the tension of the last few hours, without clarifying where he was.
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Meanwhile, the Brazilian Federal Police has canceled the ordinary and diplomatic passports of Flávio Bolsonaro. The measure arrived on Tuesday 27 October, after the parliamentarian did not respect the 24-hour deadline to deliver the documents. The order was given by judge Alexandre de Moraes, of the Supreme Federal Court, as part of a proceeding involving the senator and the lawyer Willer Tomaz, under investigation for alleged money laundering operations linked to the betting sector.
After receiving notification of the judicial measure, Bolsonaro released a video on social media to criticize Moraes’ decision. “I never thought about leaving the country”, he declared: “I never thought about leaving the country”. He also announced that he would hand over the documents and defend himself against the charges, calling the measure an attempt at intimidation.
The provision arrived in the aftermath of the electoral defeat against Lula, not yet recognized by Bolsonaro who instead denounced electoral fraud.