RIO DE JANEIRO, Oct 28 (Reuters) – The plane believed to be carrying Brazilian Senator Flavio Bolsonaro and his family to the United States was scheduled to arrive on Wednesday morning in Miami, where they will be given entry visas by the United States government.
With the whole world trying to work out where he was, Bolsonaro entered Argentina with his wife and two daughters late on Tuesday evening, according to the country’s migration department.
Bolsonaro, who lost Sunday’s presidential election to leftist incumbent Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and had refused to comply with a Supreme Court order to hand over his passports, crossed into Argentina via the Tancredo Neves International Bridge, about 19 hours by road from his home in Brasilia.
The family then boarded a private plane operated by Baires Fly S.A. bound for the Ecuadorean city of Guayaquil, the migration department said.
Argentina’s presidency did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Neither did Baires Fly.
A Gulfstream G400 operated by Baires Fly, registration LV-JQW, departed Puerto Iguazu at 12:22 a.m. (0322 GMT) and landed in Guayaquil at 3:46 a.m. (0846 GMT), according to FlightAware. The aircraft then departed for Miami’s Opa-locka Executive Airport, where it was scheduled to land at 9:18 a.m. local time (1318 GMT).
It was unclear how Bolsonaro entered Ecuador. Authorities there did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
FRESH BRAZIL-US RIFT
Bolsonaro’s departure threatens to deepen a rift between the two most populous nations in the Americas.
Lula has accused Washington of colluding with the Bolsonaro family to help return them to power. Ahead of Sunday’s election, Reuters reported on a US State Department campaign to restore the Bolsonaros to office.
Trump told reporters on Wednesday that he would approve of Bolsonaro coming to the United States, after his State Department said it would give them entry visas.
Trump has previously alleged that Flavio’s father, former President Jair Bolsonaro, was a victim of judicial persecution in Brazil.
Jair Bolsonaro also travelled to the United States after refusing to concede defeat to Lula in 2022, during Joe Biden’s presidency. He eventually returned but was later given a 27-year sentence for plotting a coup after his supporters stormed government buildings in Brasilia.
Bolsonaro had been favored to win Sunday’s presidential election but ended up losing in a shock result.
Bolsonaro, who loses his immunity from prosecution when his Senate term ends in February, had said on Monday after the order to hand in his passports that he had no plans to flee.
“I have never thought about leaving the country,” he said. “I will hand over my passports and defend myself against this travesty, which is a clear attempt to intimidate me.”
(Reporting by Gabriel Stargardter, Additional reporting by Alexandra Valencia in Quito, Gabriel Araujo in Sao Paulo, Maximilian Heath in Buenos Aires.Editing by Ros Russell)
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