State Department Says It Will Issue US Visas to Flavio Bolsonaro and His Family After He Left Brazil, per Reuters
The US State Department says it will give visas to Brazilian presidential candidate Flavio Bolsonaro and his family, per Reuters.
"The State Department will issue visas to Flavio Bolsonaro and his family and allow them entry into the United States," a senior State Department official said, per Reuters.
Bolsonaro, a Brazilian senator, has left the country for the United States after losing Sunday's presidential election, three sources told Reuters on Tuesday afternoon.
He has yet to concede to leftist incumbent Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Left After a Passport Order
Bolsonaro left Brazil after refusing to comply with a Supreme Court order to surrender his passports, per Reuters.
The ruling relates to a money laundering probe in which he denies wrongdoing.
On Monday, he was given 24 hours to surrender his passports, but they were canceled after the deadline lapsed, two sources told Reuters. In a court ruling seen by Reuters, the Supreme Court cited the risk of Bolsonaro fleeing Brazil and his "significant financial resources" in ordering his passports seized.
Bolsonaro, who loses his immunity from prosecution when his Senate term ends in February, said on Monday he had no plans to flee.
"I have never thought about leaving the country," he said, per Reuters. "I will hand over my passports and defend myself against this travesty, which is a clear attempt to intimidate me."
It remains unclear how he was able to leave. A senior Federal Police official said Bolsonaro had not exited the country via any regular migration point, per Reuters.
The location of Flavio, his wife and two daughters was not immediately clear. One source close to the family said Flavio had landed in Florida, but declined to say where, per Reuters.
Reuters did not report what type of visa would be issued, or under what legal provision, and the senior official's statement did not describe an asylum grant. The on-record commitment was limited to issuing visas and allowing entry.
A Rift Between Washington and Brasilia
Bolsonaro's departure threatens to deepen a rift between the two most populous nations in the Americas, per Reuters.
Lula has accused Washington of colluding with the Bolsonaros to put them back in power, and Reuters reported ahead of Sunday's election on a US State Department campaign to restore them to office.
Lula, speaking in Brasilia, said he had just heard that Flavio had left the country, and called it shameful, saying he should have stayed in Brazil and proved his innocence, per Reuters.
President Donald Trump made no mention of Flavio Bolsonaro's departure in comments to the press on Monday, but said the Brazilian vote "looked like another rigged election," per Reuters.
Trump has previously alleged Flavio's father, former President Jair Bolsonaro, was a victim of judicial persecution in Brazil, per Reuters.
Following His Father's Path
The elder Bolsonaro also went to the United States after refusing to concede to Lula in 2022, when former President Joe Biden was in office, per Reuters.
He eventually returned but was later given a 27-year sentence for plotting a coup after his supporters stormed government buildings in Brasilia, per Reuters.
Flavio Bolsonaro has yet to officially concede defeat, saying on Sunday he would seek the annulment of the result over alleged voter irregularities, per Reuters. His Liberal Party said on Monday it acknowledged Lula's victory.
His departure appeared to have caught his campaign manager off guard.
"We are surprised by the news because, just yesterday, we discussed the need for Flavio, given the 60 million votes he received, to take on this role as leader of the opposition," Senator Rogerio Marinho told reporters, per Reuters.
Eduardo Bolsonaro, Flavio's younger brother who lives in the United States, said ahead of the vote that an election loss would require a move, per Reuters.
"If my brother does not win, I'm in favor that he would leave the country," he told podcaster Steven Crowder this month, per Reuters.
What It Means for Markets
A public US decision to admit a defeated candidate who left under a court passport order is a diplomatic event, and Brazil assets are the first place traders will price it.
The broad Brazil trade is EWZ, the main US-listed Brazil ETF. Sustained tension between Washington and Brasilia, including any dispute over extradition, sanctions, or trade, would show up there first.
State oil giant Petrobras trades as PBR. It is sensitive to Lula administration policy and to any shift in US-Brazil energy and trade relations.
Miner Vale trades as VALE, and bank Itau Unibanco trades as ITUB. Both are liquid Brazil proxies where options flow tends to pick up when Brazilian political risk moves from domestic headlines to a US diplomatic standoff.
The Bottom Line
The State Department has now said, on the record, that Flavio Bolsonaro and his family will get visas and be allowed entry into the United States.
That puts Washington directly into Brazil's post-election fight, at the same moment Lula is calling the departure shameful and Brazilian police are still explaining how Bolsonaro left at all.
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