Flavio Bolsonaro and his family landed in Miami, Florida, Wednesday morning after flying from Argentina with a stop in Ecuador, according to AFP. The trip came after the incumbent president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, won Brazil’s presidential election with 51.79 percent of the valid votes, compared with 48.21 percent for Bolsonaro, as confirmed by the official tally.
Bolsonaro’s departure followed a Supreme Federal Court order by Justice Alexandre de Moraes that barred him from leaving the country and required him to surrender his passports to the Federal Police. Despite the court order, he and his family left Brazil earlier that week.
The U.S. Department of State said it would issue visas that would allow Bolsonaro and his family to enter the United States, after a senior State Department official confirmed the intent on Tuesday. The visas were not yet issued at the time of the landing, but the department expressed willingness to provide entry permission.
The move has attracted attention from both Brazilian and U.S. officials. Bolsonaro’s flight to the United States comes at a time when the country is tightly monitoring the political fallout of a contested election, while the U.S. is protecting the travel rights of foreign politicians. The stakes include Bolsonaro’s future political prospects, the legal implications of leaving the country against court orders, and the diplomatic relationship between Brazil and the United States.
