Flavio Bolsonaro flees Brazil after election loss, US says will grant visa

A senior US State Department official said the Trump administration will issue visas to Brazilian Senator Flavio Bolsonaro and his family, allowing them to enter the US after news outlets reported that Bolsonaro fled Brazil after losing the country’s presidential election .

The news came on Tuesday, one day after Brazil’s Supreme Court ordered Bolsonaro to turn over his passports as part of a probe into alleged money laundering. Bolsonaro has denied any wrongdoing and said on Monday that he had “never thought about leaving the country” and would stay to lead the opposition.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva , who has previously accused members of the Bolsonaro family of courting US interference in Brazilian affairs for their political benefit , called the right-wing senator’s actions shameful and said he should have stayed in the country to prove his innocence.

“A person who sneaks out of their country must have something to hide,” Lula said in the capital, Brasilia, during his 81st birthday celebration, adding that Brazil is the Bolsonaro family’s “second country” while the US is their first.

“The act of leaving Brazil is shameful.”

Bolsonaro, the son of former right-wing president Jair Bolsonaro, initially refused to acknowledge the election results and said he would seek their annulment. His party released a statement on Monday saying it accepted the results of the election, which the conservative candidate lost by more than 4.4 million votes.

US President Donald Trump reacted by casting doubt on the election result, telling reporters it “looked like another rigged election”.

No evidence has emerged that the vote was marred by malfeasance. While critics seized on a last-minute decision to extend polling hours, Lula’s eventual victory was commanding, and the extension was unlikely to change the outcome.

Democratic Representative Joaquin Castro said that Trump should tell the US Congress whether his administration played a role in Bolsonaro’s exit from Brazil.

“Losing an election is not grounds for asylum. Yet the Trump Administration is giving Flavio Bolsonaro safe haven in the United States. In Brazil, he is under investigation for alleged corruption, money laundering and currency evasion, and was ordered to surrender his passports,” Castro said in a social media post.

“The Trump Administration owes Congress answers on its role helping Bolsonaro flee Brazil in contravention of Brazilian law.”

Bolsonaro’s younger brother, Eduardo, who lives in the US and was convicted in absentia in June for illegally lobbying the Trump administration, said during a podcast interview earlier this month that Flavio should leave Brazil if he were to lose the race.

“If my brother does not win, I’m in favour that he would leave the country,” he told podcaster Steven Crowder.