Two days after the electoral defeat, Flavio Bolsonaro violated a judge's ban on leaving Brazil and fled to Florida, along with his wife, Fernanda, and daughters, Luíza and Carolina. The Trump administration has already announced its willingness to grant him political asylum. His brother, Eduardo, also a fugitive, is waiting for him, living between Orlando and Miami thanks to a green card also issued by the White House.
This is the epilogue of a hectic day in which the former presidential candidate disappeared completely, fueling a kind of international mystery. He lands in the America of the tycoon, the family friend, the former leader, a loser, under investigation, and politically discredited: while he was in the air, his party abandoned him, recognizing the victory of Lula, who today celebrates his 81st birthday as president for the fourth time. A gesture that clearly marks the end of the Bolsonarism political era.
It was clear yesterday how things would end. After visiting his father, Jair, under house arrest, perhaps for a final farewell, Flavio announced that Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes had ordered him to surrender his passports within 24 hours and not to leave the country. Outside his father's home in Brasilia, Flavio told yet another lie: "I don't intend to leave Brazil; this measure is completely unjustified," he protested. But this morning, the first rumors emerged from the Argentine media about a private jet ready for takeoff from Iguazu Airport. And among the passengers' names was Flavio's.
The government, friendly to Milei, categorically denied the claim: Bolsonaro did not enter our country. Meanwhile, the Brazilian police were already hot on his heels, checking every border crossing. After 24 hours, the judge announced the cancellation of his passports, but by then it was all in vain. His family had just reported to the Brazilian media about his escape to the United States. In all likelihood, he and his family entered Argentina clandestinely, on foot, much like the former Bolsonaro-supporting Italian-Brazilian congressman Carla Zambelli did in 2025. According to CNN, the tip about the Iguazu flight with him aboard was a red herring: it appears he departed from another Argentine city. But that matters little, now that he's escaped.
He joins his brother Edoardo, who has also been in the US since February 2025 to escape an arrest warrant issued by the same judge, Alexandre de Moraes, when he was still a member of Parliament. Sentenced definitively to four years and two months in prison, he was found guilty of using his position to solicit US economic sanctions against the judge who was investigating and who subsequently sentenced his father, Jair, to 27 years for the 2023 coup attempt. Flavio has no arrest warrant pending, but he is in deep legal trouble. And since he was not elected, his immunity will expire in February.
He is currently under investigation by the Federal Supreme Court on two counts. In the Dark Horse case, he is accused of corruption, money laundering, and currency evasion, as part of the investigation into the financing of the film dedicated to his father, Jair Bolsonaro. Under scrutiny are funds linked to former banker Daniel Vorcaro, currently in prison for a massive fraud, and public parliamentary funds. He is also under investigation in the Willer Tomaz case: here, the charges include suspected money laundering and alleged financial irregularities related to companies and betting platforms.
(Unioneonline)
