Flávio Bolsonaro's escape flight was paid for by an intermediary from the USA, says plane owner

Accompanied by his family, Flávio left Argentina on a private jet early yesterday, heading to the US state of Florida, after police canceled their passports in an investigation on suspicion of money laundering.

Flávio did not recognize his defeat to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) in Sunday's presidential elections and stated that he will lead the opposition from the United States.

According to Grande, this intermediary, whose identity he refused to reveal, transferred a payment of US$150,000 (R$800,000) from his company's account at an American bank to an Argentine bank.

Grande stated that she does not know the person who hired the intermediary and that he told her that he did not know her before the operation either.

The information about the broker, who has dual Argentine and American nationality and lives in Florida, was initially released yesterday by the Argentine newspaper Perfil, based on anonymous sources.

Grande said that the intermediary had requested the flight for Monday and then postponed it until Tuesday afternoon, but Flávio and his family ended up leaving after midnight, from the Argentine airport of Puerto Iguazú, on the border with Brazil, after passing through migration control by land, according to Argentine authorities.

The takeoff was carried out with "up-to-date" documents and without "interpol hindrance", Javier Milei's chief of staff highlighted today. The Argentine president has been involved in a diplomatic crisis with Lula for months.

According to the Argentine press, Flávio arrived at the airport in a pickup truck filmed by TV channels, but a source from the airline sector told AFP that, at that moment, he was already on the plane, after entering through another access.

It is still not known how Flávio moved from Brasília to the border region. He boarded with an Italian passport, according to a flight document seen by AFP.

American President Donald Trump avoided answering whether he recognizes Lula's victory. "I followed the elections. I didn't take sides, but I saw what was happening in Brazil, it was a shame," he said today, before an election event.

The Brazilian government considers it convenient at the moment not to argue with the United States regarding Flávio and to react with sobriety and pragmatism, since it feels in a position of strength after the electoral victory, said an interlocutor of Lula. According to the source, the perception in Brasília is that Trump's statements about Flávio, which he described as ambiguous, are due to the fact that he is trying to deliver a speech that protects his allies without compromising American interests.