Brazilian police reinforce border controls in case Bolsonaro leaves the country

The Federal Police (PF) of Brazil has reinforced border controls amid speculation about the possibility that the candidate defeated in last Sunday's presidential elections, Flávio Bolsonaro, will leave the country, according to several Brazilian media. Bolsonaro must hand over his passport throughout this Tuesday by order of the judge of the Supreme Federal Court (STF), Alexandre de Moraes, who on Monday granted him 24 hours to do so at the request of the police.

Moraes investigates an alleged money laundering plot with online betting in which the ultra leader would supposedly be involved through a friend of his, the lawyer Willer Tomaz. The magistrate, nemesis of the Bolsonaro family, justifies the danger of the defeated candidate leaving the country in statements made days ago by his brother Eduardo, resident in the United States, in which he commented that Flávio should also leave for that country.

Flávio Bolsonaro has accused Moraes of acting for purely political reasons a few hours after the election result was confirmed. In statements released by his team on Monday, the eldest son of the former president convicted of attempted coup flatly denied that he was planning to leave the country. “My place is next to the Brazilian people, facing the country's challenges,” he declared.

Although Bolsonaro has not formally recognized the victory of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, his political party, the Liberal Party, has done so, and he himself has done so tacitly by ensuring that from now on he intends to act as leader of the opposition. In his first reaction, on Sunday night, Bolsonaro had assured that he would not recognize the result of the elections and would launch a legal battle to annul them. Hours later, given the evidence that even prominent personalities in his political space did not support the attempt to discredit Lula's victory, the ultra candidate rectified and launched his announcement that he will serve as leader of the opposition. He did so after speaking with his father, whom he visited at his home in Brasilia, where he remains imprisoned serving the 27-year prison sentence imposed on him by the STF for planning a coup d'état after losing the elections to Lula in 2022. Then Jair Bolsonaro also did not admit his defeat and aired accusations of alleged fraud without providing evidence.

This Monday, a new judicial front was opened in the STF that includes Flávio Bolsonaro. It was at the initiative of Judge Flávio Dino who asked the PF to investigate whether the failed candidate's campaign received illegal financing from abroad. Dino has acted after receiving complaints from both Lula's Workers' Party (PT) and one of the candidates defeated in the first round, Renan Santos, who heads a right-wing party, Mission, but very critical of Bolsonaroism.