Flávio Bolsonaro and his family will be granted a US visa after fleeing Brazil following his shock election defeat on Sunday, according to a State Department official.
The Senator, who was favoured to win Sunday’s presidential election but ended up losing in a shock result to Lula, has reportedly already fled Brazil.
The location of Bolsonaro, his wife and two daughters was not immediately clear, but one source close to the family said he had landed in Florida.
The right-wing candidate, who is the son of former leader Jair Bolsonaro, is currently under investigation for alleged corruption and money laundering – which he denies.
Brazilian Police say they have cancelled his passports after he failed to comply with an order to surrender them.
On Monday, the Supreme Court ordered Bolsonaro to hand his passports over to police within 24 hours as part of an investigation into the alleged money laundering.
At that time, the defeated candidate said he had no plans to leave the country. However, the deadline has passed without him surrendering the passports, prompting speculation he may have fled the country.
Yet, it remains unclear how Bolsonaro was able to leave the country while facing a 24-hour deadline to hand over his passports.
“The State Department will issue visas to Flavio Bolsonaro and his family and allow them entry into the United States,” a senior State Department official said.
US President Donald Trump’s administration has previously alleged Flavio’s father, former President Jair Bolsonaro, was a victim of judicial persecution in Brazil.
Flavio’s departure for the United States threatens to deepen a rift between the two most populous nations in the Americas.
Leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has accused Washington of colluding with the Bolsonaros to put them back in power, and Reuters reported ahead of Sunday’s election on a US State Department campaign to restore them to office.
Trump made no mention of Bolsonaro’s departure in comments to the press on Monday, but said the Brazilian vote “looked like another rigged election.”
“Elections have to be indisputable, and it looked very bad to me,” he added.
Lula won 51.79% of the vote, compared to Bolsonaro’s 48.21%.
