By Gabriel Araujo
SAO PAULO, Oct 28 (Reuters) – Flavio Bolsonaro’s sudden departure from Brazil — less than three days after his election defeat — started on Sunday with his refusal to concede in the runoff and culminated in his arrival in Miami via Argentina and Ecuador aboard a private jet on Wednesday.
The right-wing lawmaker left after receiving a Supreme Court order to surrender his passports in connection with a money-laundering investigation, in which he denies wrongdoing.
Below is a timeline of the events. All times are Brasilia time (GMT-3).
SUNDAY — ELECTION DEFEAT AND CHALLENGE
• Bolsonaro loses Brazil’s presidential runoff election to leftist incumbent Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, despite having entered the race as the favorite after winning the first-round vote
• Bolsonaro does not concede defeat and says he would seek annulment of the election, arguing that a Supreme Court decision extending voting hours by two hours had affected the outcome
• World leaders quickly recognize Lula’s victory, but US President Donald Trump and Argentine President Javier Milei initially remain silent
MONDAY — PASSPORT ORDER
• Trump alleges, without presenting evidence, that the Brazilian election “looked like another rigged election,” but Bolsonaro’s Liberal Party acknowledges the runoff result
• Bolsonaro posts a video on social media saying federal police had requested he turn in his passports following an order from Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes
• The senator said he would comply with the order and rejected speculation that he planned to flee Brazil after the election
TUESDAY — REPORTS OF DEPARTURE
• 1:00 a.m.: Argentine news site Infobae reports that Bolsonaro had left Brazil for Argentina and planned to continue to the US aboard a private jet waiting at Puerto Iguazu airport near the border
• 11:15 a.m.: Argentine immigration authorities say they have no record of Bolsonaro entering the country, adding that inspectors had checked the aircraft and its crew and found no flight plan listing Bolsonaro or his family
• 11:30 a.m.: A spokesperson for Milei says Argentina had taken note of Lula’s victory but did not plan to congratulate him, and declines to comment on whether Argentina would consider an asylum request from Bolsonaro
• 12:00 p.m.: Bolsonaro misses the deadline to surrender his passports; although his whereabouts are unknown, federal police sources tell Reuters the documents have been canceled
• 2:15 p.m.: CNN Brasil reports, citing Bolsonaro allies, that the senator has traveled to the US
• 2:20 p.m.: An ally of Bolsonaro tells Reuters he has already left Brazil and is heading to the US
• 2:30 p.m.: A US official tells Reuters that Bolsonaro is on a plane bound for the US
• 6:05 p.m.: A senior US State Department official says that Bolsonaro and his family would be allowed to enter the country and would receive visas
• 6:25 p.m.: Lula describes Bolsonaro’s departure from Brazil after his election defeat as “shameful”
WEDNESDAY — ARRIVAL IN THE UNITED STATES
• 12:22 a.m.: Flight-tracking data shows a Baires Fly Gulfstream G400, registration LV-JQW, departing Puerto Iguazu
• 1:30 a.m.: Trump says he would have approved Bolsonaro’s arrival in the US and describes Brazil’s election as “very strange”
• 2:00 a.m.: Argentina’s migration authority says Bolsonaro and his family had entered the province of Misiones late on October 27 using valid travel documents, adding they crossed the Tancredo Neves Bridge in Puerto Iguazu and later boarded a private Baires Fly flight bound for Guayaquil, Ecuador
• 5:46 a.m.: The aircraft arrives in Guayaquil, according to flight-tracking data
• 6:22 a.m.: The plane departs Guayaquil for Miami’s Opa-locka Executive Airport, according to flight-tracking firm FlightAware
• 10:31 a.m.: The aircraft arrives in Miami; Reuters TV images show Bolsonaro disembarking along with his wife and two daughters
(Reporting by Gabriel Araujo; Editing by Aurora Ellis)
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