Bolsonaro and his family have fled to the US amid a Brazilian Supreme Court order to surrender his passports.
Brazilian Senator Flavio Bolsonaro and his family have landed in Miami, Florida, after the candidate lost Sunday’s presidential election to incumbent Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Al Jazeera’s John Holman, reporting from outside Opa-Locka Executive Airport, where the family landed on Wednesday morning, said the group was “whisked away in an SUV” from the airport soon after arriving.
Dressed casually in a dark polo shirt and flanked by his wife and two daughters, Bolsonaro stepped out of the plane shortly after it landed at around 9:30am local time (13:30 GMT). Florida is home to the largest population of Brazilians in the United State.
Brazil‘s Supreme Court had ordered Flavio Bolsonaro to surrender his regular and diplomatic passports shortly after the election, in an attempt to make sure the right-wing senator did not flee the country before he could be investigated for embezzlement and money laundering.
As a senator, Bolsonaro had immunity from potential criminal prosecution, but he would lose that protection in January, since he gave up his seat to run for president.
Holman said the Bolsonaro family’s flight from Brazil was a dramatic escape, starting with crossing into neighbouring Argentina “on a row bridge, by foot”.
Argentine immigration authorities said the senator and his family entered the country late Tuesday night, and less than an hour later boarded a private plane operated by Baires Fly destined for Guayaquil, Ecuador.
That plane arrived in Ecuador, and later took off for Miami, Florida, with Flavio and his family on board.
Both Ecuador and Argentina are run by right-wing leaders who are close allies of US President Donald Trump, said Holman. The countries provided “stepping stones among allies”, and the US Department of State has issued visas for the family.
Brazil and the US do have an extradition treaty, but Holman said it is expected Bolsonaro will be protected by Trump, who said yesterday the Bolsonaros were “fine people”.
“The signs are, with the State Department issuing him a visa, with the comments coming from President Trump, that they’re not gonna be in any hurry to hand him back to Brazil,” Holman said.
Flavio’s father, Brazil’s former President Jair Bolsonaro, undertook a very similar journey to Florida after he lost his bid for re-election in 2022. While he was in the US, the elder Bolsonaro’s supporters attempted to orchestrate a coup. He later returned to Brazil, and is currently under house arrest.