Flávio Bolsonaro reaches US utilizing Italian passport
Flávio Bolsonaro reaches the United States utilizing an Italian passport
Flávio Bolsonaro left Brazil for the United States less than 48 hours after losing the presidential election to incumbent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, relying on an Italian citizenship acquired in 2025 through his Venetian grandparents. The departure follows a Supreme Court order to confiscate his standard Brazilian and diplomatic passports due to an active flight risk assessment tied to ongoing corruption and money laundering investigations.
Moraes seizes travel documents as Flávio Bolsonaro faces scrutiny
The Brazilian senator faced escalating legal scrutiny prior to his departure. Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered the immediate seizure of his official travel documents after his brother, Eduardo Bolsonaro, stated publicly that Flávio would flee to the United States to escape imprisonment in Brazil if the election results failed. Flávio Bolsonaro holds three passports: a standard Brazilian document, a diplomatic passport tied to his legislative office, and an Italian passport secured via iure sanguinis provisions in 2025. While domestic authorities invalidated his Brazilian documents, the Italian passport enabled the international travel.
In addition to political fallout from the recent ballot, Bolsonaro is officially implicated in two separate judicial matters. The first involves an online sports betting firm linked to his associate, attorney Willer Thomaz, which allegedly accumulated six million reais in unpaid taxes. The second inquiry centers on financial transactions scrutinized during the electoral campaign. These legal challenges run parallel to the situation of his father, former president Jair Bolsonaro, who is serving house arrest following a 27-year sentence for a coup plot hatched after the 2022 election defeat against Lula.
Lula condemns departure while Trump considers granting asylum
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva condemned the departure during public remarks. Leaving Brazil is a shameful act,
Lula stated. Unfortunately, for the Bolsonaro family, Brazil is their second patria. The first patria is licking the boots of the United States.
In Washington, the incoming arrival drew notice from U.S. leadership. According to Folha de Sao Paulo, the administration of Donald Trump is aware of the travel and is expected to grant political asylum. Trump expressed skepticism regarding the Brazilian election outcome, asserting that the vote featured unclear episodes, though he presented no evidence of irregularities. Flávio Bolsonaro joins his younger brother Eduardo, who has resided in Washington for six months after facing charges of treason in Brazil.
Flávio Bolsonaro flies to Florida after electoral defeat
Before leaving the country, Flávio Bolsonaro visited his father under house arrest and maintained to the press that he intended to stay in Brazil to lead political resistance. Hours later, he boarded a private jet bound for Florida. Allies from the Liberal Party and U.S. contacts confirmed the relocation, following electoral defeat by a margin of slightly more than three percent in a deeply polarized national runoff.