Flavio Bolsonaro lands in Miami after Brazil election defeat

Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes issued the order late on Sunday night, calling Bolsonaro a flight risk. The investigation involves the senator and his friend Willer Tomaz, who local press reports say left Brazil for Miami two weeks ago.

Argentine immigration authorities said Bolsonaro and his family crossed into Argentina by land late Tuesday night and, less than an hour later, boarded a private plane operated by Baires Fly bound for Guayaquil, Ecuador. The plane later took off for Miami, landing at Opa-Locka Executive Airport on Wednesday morning. The US State Department confirmed on Tuesday that it will issue visas to Bolsonaro and his family.

Bolsonaro's departure followed his defeat in Sunday's presidential run-off, in which centre-left incumbent Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva won re-election with 51.8 percent to Bolsonaro's 48.2 percent, a margin of more than 4.4 million votes. At a press conference after the result, Bolsonaro said it would be "impossible" for him to acknowledge the outcome and said he would pursue a petition to have the election annulled. His claims rested on a last-minute Supreme Court decision that delayed the closing of polls by two hours after both candidates requested extensions because of transport and weather problems. Official records show fewer than 35,000 votes were recorded during the extension.

US President Donald Trump and Argentina's President Javier Milei are the only two prominent world leaders who have not yet acknowledged the result. Speaking to reporters on Monday, Trump said, without citing evidence, that Brazil's election appeared to have been "rigged", while also expressing admiration for Lula.

While Bolsonaro has not conceded, his Liberal Party has recognised the result. Sao Paulo Governor Tarcisio de Freitas, who campaigned alongside Bolsonaro and won re-election in a first-round landslide, posted a two-minute video on Tuesday outlining his own project for the country and mentioning Bolsonaro once.

Political analyst Paulo Roberto de Souza of the Democracy in Check Institute said Bolsonaro's flight may open a struggle for the conservative movement's future, with the Bolsonaro family pushed aside. "By leaving the country, he's made it easier for the right wing to start a fight over the Bolsonaro's spoils," he said. He called the defeat "humiliating" for the family and said it was unlikely a Bolsonaro would be on the presidential ticket in 2030.

Some voters were sharply critical. Cristiana Cunha, 36, told Al Jazeera that Bolsonaro was "acting like a coward who's unwilling to face the consequences of his actions." Priscila Cardoso, a 45-year-old psychoanalyst, called his behaviour "a joke", comparing him to "a parasite fleeing through the sewer" and, in a separate remark, to "a spoiled child who loses a game and takes the ball home with them."