Bolsonaro may be heading to Ecuador via neighboring country; reports change as he leaves Brazil and enters the US

[São Paulo Current Affairs] Right-wing senator Flavio Bolsonaro, who lost the Brazilian presidential election, appears to have left the country on the 27th, accompanied by his wife and two daughters. It was initially reported that he had arrived in the United States, but later it was announced that he had headed to Ecuador via neighboring Argentina, and all countries are closely monitoring his whereabouts.

Bolsonaro's camp admits defeat, but he calls for election to be invalidated - Brazilian presidential election

Brazilian media reported on the 27th that after Bolsonaro left the country, he entered the southern US state of Florida and met with his brother, who lives in the US. However, in the early hours of the 28th, Argentine authorities announced on X (formerly Twitter) that Bolsonaro and others entered the country by land on the night of the 27th. He boarded a private plane and headed to Ecuador.

In the early hours of the 28th, US President Trump told reporters that he had heard that Bolsonaro was in Argentina. He criticized Brazil's presidential election as "very strange and terrible" and expressed his support for Bolsonaro's entry into the United States. A senior State Department official had previously indicated that they would be issued visas.

Bolsonaro is under investigation on suspicion of money laundering, has been banned from leaving the country by federal police, and his Brazilian passport was invalidated on the 27th. He reportedly had Italian citizenship and may have had another valid passport.

Mr. Bolsonaro did not recognize the election results won by left-wing President Lula and had expressed a stance of calling for them to be invalidated. On the 26th, he stressed that he would remain in the country and "defend against the outrage." On the 27th, Lula criticized his departure, saying, ``It's unfortunate that he left Brazil.He could have stayed in the country and proved that the allegations were not true.''

Bolsonaro has built a close relationship with Trump. After the October 2022 presidential election, Bolsonaro's father, former President Jair Bolsonaro, who lost to Lula, did not recognize the results and stayed in the United States for about three months starting in December of the same year.