By Ricardo Brito, Gram Slattery and Luciana Magalhaes
SAO PAULO, Oct 27 (Reuters) - Brazilian Senator Flavio Bolsonaro has left the country for the United States after losing Sunday's presidential election, three sources said on Tuesday afternoon, with the US State Department due to grant him and his family entry visas.
Bolsonaro, who has yet to concede to leftist incumbent Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, left Brazil after refusing to comply with a Supreme Court order to surrender his passports.
The ruling
relates to a money laundering probe in which he denies wrongdoing.
The location of Flavio, his wife and two daughters was not immediately clear. One source close to the family said Flavio had landed in Florida, but declined to say where.
"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.
BRAZIL-US RIFT GROWS
Bolsonaro's departure threatens to deepen a rift between the two most populous nations in the Americas. Lula 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 has previously alleged Flavio's father, former President Jair Bolsonaro, was a victim of judicial persecution in Brazil. The elder Bolsonaro also went to the United States after refusing to concede to Lula in 2022, when former US President Joe Biden was in office. He eventually returned but was later given a 27-year sentence for plotting a coup after his supporters stormed government buildings in Brasilia.
Trump made no mention of Flavio Bolsonaro's departure in comments to the press on Monday, but said the Brazilian vote "looked like another rigged election."
Lula, speaking in Brasilia, said he had just heard that Flavio had left the country, and called it shameful, saying he should have stayed in Brazil and proved his innocence.
Bolsonaro was favored to win Sunday's presidential election but ended up losing in a shock result to Lula.
ORDERED TO HAND OVER PASSPORTS
On Monday, he was given 24 hours to surrender his passports, but they were canceled after the deadline lapsed, two sources said. In a court ruling seen by Reuters, the Supreme Court cited the risk of Bolsonaro fleeing Brazil and his "significant financial resources" in ordering his passports seized.
Bolsonaro, who loses his immunity from prosecution when his Senate term ends in February, said on Monday he had no plans to flee.
"I have never thought about leaving the country," he said. "I will hand over my passports and defend myself against this travesty, which is a clear attempt to intimidate me."
His departure appeared to have caught his campaign manager off guard.
"We are surprised by the news because, just yesterday, we discussed the need for Flavio — given the 60 million votes he received — to take on this role as leader of the opposition," Senator Rogerio Marinho told reporters.
FOLLOWING FATHER'S PATH
Although Bolsonaro has yet to officially concede defeat — saying on Sunday he would seek the annulment of the result over alleged voter irregularities — his Liberal Party said on Monday it acknowledged Lula's victory.
It remains unclear how Bolsonaro was able to leave the country while he was facing a 24-hour deadline to hand over his passports. A senior Federal Police official said Bolsonaro had not exited the country via any regular migration point.
Eduardo Bolsonaro, Bolsonaro's younger brother who lives in the United States, said ahead of the vote that an election loss would require a move.
"If my brother does not win, I'm in favor that he would leave the country," he told podcaster Steven Crowder this month.
(Reporting by Ricardo Brito and Luciana Magalhaes; Additional reporting by Lucinda Elliot, Brendan O'Boyle, Oliver Griffin, Simon Lewis; Editing by Gabriel Stargardter and Aurora Ellis)
