Why defeated Flavio Bolsonaro fled Brazil for Miami - and what comes next

On Wednesday, Flavio Bolsonaro, who last week lost Brazil's presidential election, was seen arriving in the US on a private jet after having fled in the dead of night.

The right-wing senator, 45, and Trump ally has refused to concede following his narrow defeat by incumbent leftist president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, commonly known as Lula.

Instead, he copied his father, jailed former president Jair Bolsonaro, who also fled to Florida after losing the 2022 presidential election to Lula.

After arriving in the US, Flavio Bolsonaro declared himself Brazil's rightful leader, alleging he was the victim of an electoral coup by the country's supreme court.

Mr Bolsonaro's departure raises questions back in his homeland, while his arrival in the US will likely cause more trouble for an already rocky relationship between Washington and Brazil.

A shock election defeat

On Sunday, Mr Bolsonaro lost the presidential run-off election to Lula, who won a historic fourth term, in a surprise result that defied polls.

Voting was neck and neck throughout Sunday evening's count, before Lula, 81, pulled ahead.

With virtually 100% of the vote counted, Brazil's electoral court said Lula had secured 51.79% of the ballots cast, to Mr Bolsonaro's 48.21%.

But Mr Bolsonaro refused to accept defeat and asked for the election results to be annulled after the voting time was extended by two hours by a supreme court judge.

He said the extension was "unacceptable".

While Donald Trump did not endorse Mr Bolsonaro ahead of the vote, he has since said that the results "looked like another ‌rigged election" without providing evidence.

Mr Trump said on Thursday he thought the election was "a disgrace" and "a very great embarrassment to the people of Brazil".

A midnight getaway

Shortly after his election loss, Mr Bolsonaro was ordered to surrender his passports to federal police as part of a probe into alleged money laundering, allegations he denies.

In a court ruling seen by Reuters, the supreme court cited the risk of him fleeing Brazil and his "significant financial resources" in ordering his passports seized.

Two sources told the news agency that he was given 24 hours to surrender his passports on Monday, which were cancelled after the deadline lapsed.

Instead of handing them in, the defeated candidate did exactly what the supreme court had tried to prevent and fled with his family.

Argentina's migration department confirmed the family crossed into the country late on Tuesday with "valid travel documentation" at the Tancredo Neves International Bridge border crossing.

After entering the country at 10.50pm (local time), the party boarded a private flight operated by Baires Fly S.A. at 11.30pm, bound for Ecuador.

Shortly after midnight, a Gulfstream G4000 private jet took off from Puerto Iguazu, close to the Argentina-Brazil border, bound for Guayaquil in Ecuador.

Shortly after landing, the same jet type, with the same registration number, departed from Guayaquil bound for Miami, where it arrived on Wednesday shortly before 1.30pm (UK time).

Mr Bolsonaro and his family were then photographed leaving the same type of aircraft in Miami at that time.

What comes next?

In an initial open letter posted on X after his arrival, Mr Bolsonaro declared himself "the elected president".

He then deleted that version and updated it with another letter in which he said he was the rightful "leader" of Brazil.

He also thanked Argentine leader Javier Milei for helping him make the journey.

Despite the claims, Lula's win has been recognised by Brazil's federal electoral court, global leaders, international observers, and Bolsonaro's own party.

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The declaration, as well as the decision to grant him entry visas, pose a problem for Washington as it seeks to navigate a rift with Brazil, home to the world's second-largest reserves of rare earths.

Lula has accused Washington of colluding with the Bolsonaro family to help return them to power; claims the US denies.

Mr Trump has previously alleged Flavio's father, former president Jair Bolsonaro, was a victim of judicial persecution.

Jair Bolsonaro travelled to the US after refusing to concede defeat to Lula in 2022.

He eventually returned to Brazil but was sentenced to 27 years in prison for plotting a coup after his supporters stormed government buildings.

Lula, who served time on corruption convictions that were later annulled, said it was "shameful" that Flavio Bolsonaro had not stayed in Brazil to prove his innocence.

(c) Sky News 2026: Why defeated Flavio Bolsonaro fled Brazil for Miami - and what comes next