Brazil's Bolsonaro flees to US after losing presidential election

Brazilian Senator Flávio Bolsonaro has left Brazil after losing Sunday’s presidential election to leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

His destination is the United States, according to US media, where President Donald Trump had endorsed him to defeat the incumbent Lula.

Lula earlier accused Washington of colluding with the Bolsonaros to help them regain power, with Reuters reporting a US State Department campaign in their favour.

Bolsonaro is believed to have fled to avoid arrest in Brazil, where he is under investigation by the Supreme Court for alleged corruption, money laundering, and currency evasion.

The government cancelled Bolsonaro’s passports after the defeated right-wing candidate failed to comply with an order to surrender the documents.

The action by the Federal Police followed the expiration of the 24-hour deadline, which Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes issued on Monday.

The results of the second round of the presidential election won by Lula, 81, show that Flávio Bolsonaro, 45, trailed by more than 4 million votes.

In September 2025, his father, former President Jair Bolsonaro, was sentenced to 27 years in prison after being convicted of plotting a coup after losing the 2022 election.

71-year-old Jair Bolsonaro similarly moved to the US after refusing to concede to Lula in 2022, when former US President Joe Biden was in office.