The defeated candidate says he will “lead the opposition from here”. He has offered no evidence of fraud, and international observers found the vote fair.
Flavio Bolsonaro has declared himself the “true elected president of Brazil”, despite losing Sunday’s run-off to the incumbent, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. The 45-year-old right-wing senator landed in Miami on Wednesday morning local time after travelling from Argentina by private jet. He thanked Donald Trump and “the wonderful American people for welcoming me”. He had been ordered by Brazil’s Supreme Court to surrender his passports to federal police as part of a money-laundering inquiry, which he denies.
What Mr Bolsonaro says
In an open letter shared with journalists by his allies, and reported by Reuters, he alleged a “politically-motivated witch-hunt, intended to hold me hostage”. “Faced with the politicisation of the justice system in Brazil, I brought my family to the United States,” he said. He insisted he did not flee and left “so I could be the leader my people deserve”. He said he would “lead the opposition from here”.
He added: “I want to say, not only to my 60 million voters but to the Brazilian people, that I am the elected president and that the criminals who stole Brazil’s election are part of a criminal organisation that has established a tyranny.” He gave no evidence of electoral fraud. He has refused to concede and has threatened to try to annul the result.
The official result
According to Brazil’s Superior Electoral Court (TSE), Lula won 51.79% of the vote, or 64,256,232 votes, against 48.21%, or 59,826,041, for Mr Bolsonaro. That is a margin of 4,430,191 votes. Brazil’s Chamber of Deputies noted that Mr Bolsonaro had led the first round before Lula overtook him in the run-off. International observers have found Sunday’s voting was fair. His own Liberal Party acknowledged the result on Monday, Reuters reports, so his personal refusal to concede does not leave the outcome undecided.
Associated Press reports that he would need to present evidence and persuade the electoral court before certification, scheduled for 18 December 2026. The research notes could not verify that any legal challenge has been filed or that any court has found fraud sufficient to change the result. The Financial Times reported on Wednesday that the Trump administration had not formally recognised Lula’s re-election. Mr Trump had publicly questioned the result without evidence of fraud.
How he left Brazil
On Monday 26 October, Mr Bolsonaro posted a video saying he would comply with the passport order and stay in Brazil to challenge the allegations, Reuters reports. By Tuesday he had missed the deadline, and federal police cancelled his Brazilian travel documents. Late that day, he crossed the Tancredo Neves International Bridge from Foz do Iguacu in Brazil to Puerto Iguazu in Argentina. Argentine migration authorities said he entered with valid documents. Courthouse News reported he used an Italian passport, which Brazilian reporting says remained valid. His wife and two daughters were with him.
Reuters used flight-tracking data to reconstruct the onward journey. A Baires Fly Gulfstream G400, registration LV-JQW, left Puerto Iguazu at 12.22am Brasilia time on Wednesday, stopped in Guayaquil, Ecuador, and landed at Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport. It arrived at 10.31am Brasilia time, or 9.31am in Miami. Who paid for the aircraft has not been established.
A senior State Department official confirmed on Tuesday that Mr Bolsonaro and his family would be allowed into the United States. Other reporting has raised the possibility of political asylum, but permission to enter is not the same as asylum, and neither his visa category nor any asylum application has been confirmed. Folha de S.Paulo reported claims that Secretary of State Marco Rubio played a role in the arrangements, though accounts within the administration differed.
His father, the jailed former president Jair Bolsonaro, also went to Florida after losing the 2022 election to Lula.
The investigations
The research notes describe two separate financial inquiries. Federal police are examining suspected financial links between Mr Bolsonaro and the lawyer Willer Tomaz, identified after investigators examined a phone seized in a probe into alleged fraud in Brazil’s social security system. Both men deny wrongdoing. A second investigation concerns Daniel Vorcaro, former owner of Banco Master, which regulators shut down in November 2025. Mr Vorcaro has been in pretrial detention since March 2026. Mr Bolsonaro denies wrongdoing, and neither inquiry has established criminal responsibility. He has not been convicted of anything in either case.
His Senate term ends in January 2027, and unless he wins another office he will lose his parliamentary mandate. A 2025 Supreme Court ruling provides that investigations into alleged offences linked to public office can remain with the court after a politician leaves office. His departure does not automatically end the inquiries.
