By Zoila Palma: Brazilian Senator Flavio Bolsonaro has reportedly left the country for the United States after losing Sunday’s presidential election and failing to comply with a Supreme Court order to surrender his passports, according to sources cited by Reuters.
The circumstances surrounding his departure remain unclear, including his destination in the United States and whether he intends to seek asylum.
The senator was given 24 hours on Monday to surrender his passports as part of a money laundering investigation, in which he denies wrongdoing.
The deadline reportedly expired, and his travel documents were subsequently cancelled. Before the deadline passed, Bolsonaro said he had no intention of leaving Brazil and would surrender his passports to defend himself against what he described as an attempt to intimidate him.
His reported departure threatens to deepen tensions between Brazil and the United States.
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has accused Washington of working with the Bolsonaro family to return them to power, while the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has previously alleged that Flavio’s father, former president Jair Bolsonaro, was the victim of judicial persecution.
Flavio has not formally conceded defeat and had called for the election result to be annulled over alleged voting irregularities, although his Liberal Party has acknowledged Lula’s victory.
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