Argentina’s customs office issued a statement on Tuesday saying there is “no record” of Brazilian presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro entering the country.
Local media reported that the far-right senator had crossed the border to Argentina on Monday night, planning to board a private flight to the United States.
On Sunday, Bolsonaro lost the presidential runoff against incumbent Luiz Inácio “Lula” da Silva, who was reelected.
The former presidential candidate had been barred from leaving his country on Monday. He was ordered by a court to surrender his passports as part of a money laundering investigation. He failed to do so within the 24-hour deadline the judiciary had stipulated.
Argentine news website Infobae reported that following the travel ban decision, Bolsonaro allegedly travelled to Puerto Iguazú, a city on Argentina’s northeast border with Brazil, and took a private flight to the United States.
Argentina’s customs office issued a press release stating that there are “no records” of Flávio Bolsonaro entering the country. However, they did confirm that the private jet reported to allegedly be transporting Bolsonaro was at the Puerto Iguazú airport.
“In light of the media uproar over the presence of a private plane at Iguazú International Airport, authorities proceeded to conduct the appropriate inspections of the aircraft and its crew,” the release said.
“It was ultimately confirmed that the company’s documentation was in order and that no flight plan had been filed that included the Bolsonaro family.”
Bolsonaro on the run?
In the early hours of Tuesday morning, outlet Infobae published an article stating that Flávio Bolsonaro allegedly entered Argentina via Puerto Iguazú, in Misiones province, and took a private flight to the U.S.
Infobae said that Bolsonaro allegedly entered Argentina with his ID — due to agreements under trade bloc Mercosur, a passport is not needed to travel from Brazil to Argentina — and boarded a Gulfstream G400 plane from private flights company Baires Fly S.A. They also released a photo of the aircraft, albeit without visible signs of Bolsonaro’s presence.
Brazilian outlets such as Folha de Sao Paulo and Metrópoles reported that Brazilian police are searching the border and have reached out to Argentine authorities to verify the information.
Reports also state that Bolsonaro’s lawyers and allies have attempted to contact him on Monday without success.
Travel ban
Bolsonaro is under investigation for his alleged connections to Willer Tomaz, a lawyer accused of laundering more than US$1 billion through a fraud scheme. He is also facing accusations in a corruption investigation.
As a senator, the far-right leader currently has legal immunity until his term ends in February. He would have maintained the benefit if he won the presidential election. This will be his first time since 2002 without a legislative role.
On Monday, Brazil’s Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes — a known opponent to the Bolsonaro family — ordered police to confiscate Flávio Bolsonaro’s passports and banned him from leaving the country over a money laundering case.
In a video posted on Instagram by Bolsonaro on Monday, he said he was visiting his father Jair Bolsonaro — who was president from 2019-2022 and is currently serving a 27-year sentence in house arrest for plotting a coup attempt and Lula’s murder in 2022 — when police turned up outside the house and notified him that he was banned from leaving Brazil and had to surrender his passports.
He questioned that De Moraes made his decision on Sunday night, after the election results were announced. “Would the same thing have happened if I won the elections?” he said. “It was a decision made based on the electoral results.”
While the ruling was made based on a supposed flight risk, Bolsonaro said he never thought of leaving the country and that he would hand over his passports.
This is a developing story, check back for updates
La entrada Bolsonaro unaccounted for as Brazil investigates whether he fled to Argentina se publicó primero en Buenos Aires Herald.