Defeated candidate Flávio Bolsonaro defies Brazil travel ban with flight to US, sources say

By Max Saltman, Kevin Liptak, Julia Vargas Jones, CNN

(CNN) — Brazilian senator Flávio Bolsonaro has left Brazil and is headed to the United States after losing Sunday’s presidential election, two sources have confirmed to CNN.

A US official initially told CNN that Bolsonaro was headed to Florida, but later said his exact destination in the US was unclear.

A Brazilian source close to Bolsonaro said that the politician had feared arrest in Brazil. where he is under investigation by the country’s highest court for alleged acts of corruption, money laundering and currency evasion.

Speculation about his movements mounted after Argentine news outlet Infobae reported that Bolsonaro had left Brazil via Argentina after losing Sunday’s runoff presidential election against leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. The Argentine government said in a statement that it has “no record of Flávio Bolsonaro entering” the country.

Brazil’s Federal Police canceled Bolsonaro’s passports after he failed to surrender them and are currently searching for him, CNN Brasil reports.

Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered Bolsonaro to turn in his passports within 24 hours on Monday. CNN has reached out to Bolsonaro, his political party and the Brazilian Federal Police for comment on the senator’s whereabouts.

Bolsonaro said Brazilian police had informed him of the order in person and told him he was banned from leaving Brazil. In a video posted to Instagram, the senator denied that he intended to flee.

One of the allegations against Bolsonaro is connected to potential illegal online betting platforms, and another to the production of a biopic about his father, “Dark Horse,” which federal police believe involved funds from Banco Master, a now-collapsed bank at the heart of a $7 billion Ponzi-like scheme in 2025. Bolsonaro denies all wrongdoing.

At the time of his departure from Brazil, there were no warrants for his arrest, but according to legal analysts, the act of defying the court’s orders to surrender his passports could be enough reason for a warrant to be issued.

Right-wingers in exile

In leaving Brazil for the US, Bolsonaro joins a large community of Brazilian conservatives in exile – including his own brother Eduardo, former Brazilian intelligence chief Alexandre Ramagem and podcaster Paulo Figueiredo.

Eduardo suggested shortly before the runoff election that Flávio ought to leave Brazil if his bid for the presidency failed. On Tuesday, Eduardo called rumors that his brother had fled a “lie.”

Bolsonaro’s leaving Brazil comes directly after his surprise loss to Lula over the weekend. The conservative politician was a strong favorite to win, but Lula managed to outmaneuver Bolsonaro Sunday, earning 4.4 million more votes in the second round. Bolsonaro initially refused to concede to Lula, saying his team would ask for the results to be annulled.

Bolsonaro’s Liberal Party reversed course days later. “We recognize the presidential election results,” party head Valdemar Costa Neto said, according to CNN affiliate CNN Brasil. “But we believe the issues ⁠raised need to be properly clarified.”

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CNN’s Mauricio Torres and Anabella Gonzalez contributed reporting.