# QUICK TAKE: Flávio Bolsonaro was due to hand in his passport, Washington granted him a visa > Flávio Bolsonaro had 24 hours to hand any foreign passports to the police. He did not. No document arrived. The deadline passed. The senator changed countries three times in a single night. - Author: Maxime Marquette - Publisher: MadMax (https://mad-max.co) - Section: Note - Published: 2026-10-29 - Canonical URL: https://mad-max.co/en/article/quick-take-flavio-bolsonaro-was-due-to-hand-in-his-passport-washington-granted ## A passport too many Flávio Bolsonaro had 24 hours to hand any foreign passports to the police. He did not. No document arrived. The deadline passed. ### Three countries in one night The senator changed countries three times in a single night. His family goes with him. He lands in Miami. Washington grants him a visa. The visa comes fast. The passport, never. Bolsonaro denies fleeing. He says he left “for the sake of Brazil”. A probe into alleged money laundering targets him in Brazil. He denies everything. The courts wanted his papers. ### The word we use here In Quebec, we have a word of our very own for this kind of exit. Flávio scrammed. That is the word. No Brazilian border post recorded his exit. Investigators are still looking. Washington had already said yes. ## The federal police set 24 hours On October 25, the federal police ask the Supreme Court to seize his passports. They fear a departure. The ruling comes fast. Brazil cancels his passports. A migration alert follows. The system is called SONAR. ### The morning of October 26 The senator is summoned on the morning of October 26. Police want any foreign passports. He has **24 hours**. The deadline expires. Nobody comes. The Guardian puts the deadline at 11 a.m., on October 27. Bolsonaro did not appear. The plural matters. An Italian citizen since 2023, he reportedly holds a passport from that country, the Guardian writes. That passport is missing too. ### Two probes before the Supreme Court The BBC counts two investigations against him at the Supreme Federal Court. Both are pending. The first concerns possible irregularities: nearly $70 million moved from Banco Master to a film. It is called Dark Horse. Dark Horse portrays his father. The other targets alleged laundering. The Guardian describes betting companies and a scheme worth about $905 million. Both, he denies. ## Misiones, Guayaquil, Miami Allies last see him around 6 p.m., on October 26, according to the Guardian. He vanishes. More than 24 hours pass. The checks turn up nothing. ### The Tancredo Neves bridge, at night The Argentine government confirmed it. The family entered by the Tancredo Neves International Bridge. The bridge is in Misiones. A bridge, not an airport. At 11:30 p.m., Buenos Aires says, a Baires Fly flight takes the family to Guayaquil, in Ecuador. The flight is private. The jet: a Gulfstream IV. It bears the registration LV-JQW. It waited at Puerto Iguazú. ### 9:24 a.m. in Florida The Ecuador stop is brief. The plane lands near Miami. The sun is out. It is 9:24. The family steps off. He wears a bulletproof vest. Black umbrellas hide him. No supporter waits for him. The journalists: two dozen. Two US border agents keep them at a distance. Not a word. A Ford Expedition Max takes him away. A police escort follows. A bridge in Misiones, a Gulfstream at Puerto Iguazú, a stop in Guayaquil, a tarmac in Florida, and still no passport handed to the police. The night was enough. *Twenty-four hours for a passport, a single night for three countries.* ## Washington opens the door to the senator Time runs out at 11 a.m., on October 27. That same day, Washington speaks. A State Department spokesperson announced visas for the family, “to allow them entry into the United States”. The yes comes quickly. On the evening of October 27, Donald Trump says he would approve their move. “They’re fine people,” he says. ### “A pass to come into the country” On October 28, Bolsonaro arrives. Trump says: “We gave him a pass to come into the country.” The word matters. A passport gets handed over. A pass gets handed out. Brazilian newspapers speak of humanitarian visas. The term carries weight. ### One visa, one act I judge it on evidence. The visa benefits a man targeted by two investigations. He missed the deadline. The visa follows anyway. The gesture has a price. Lula says the United States is the Bolsonaros’ first homeland. Washington supplies the stamp. Democrat Joaquin Castro is blunt: “Losing an election is not grounds for asylum.” He demands answers. ## His best defence His defence carries weight. The investigators write it themselves. On their own, restrictions on his travel documents do not make him a fugitive. Nor do they authorise arrest. Buenos Aires adds its voice. The family had valid papers, “without any legal impediment to entering the country”. Flávio Bolsonaro denies any wrongdoing. ### A “regime of exception”, he says His version is in writing. He calls himself a victim of a coup d’état and of political persecution, according to the BBC. The tone rises further. He says he left a “regime of exception” to become “the leader my people deserve”. His family needed protection, he says. The argument carries. ### A summons, a document, 24 hours His fear of the judges may be sincere. The deadline, though, was simple. An investigation now targets the breach of court orders. The departure becomes a case. Nothing is surrendered. Fugitive, no. Summoned, yes. ## A video swore he had never thought of leaving A video, on October 26. His passport is cancelled. The line is on camera. “I never thought about leaving the country.” He promised to stay and lead the opposition, Al Jazeera reports. The promise lasts one day. ### A brother in favour of leaving His brother had warned. Eduardo spoke on a podcast. If his brother lost, he said, he was in favour of him leaving the country. Eduardo spoke too soon. The investigators remember. They cite that interview in seeking the passport’s seizure, according to the Guardian. ### Weeks of planning, according to O Globo O Globo goes further. According to the paper, the departure had been planned for weeks, and Eduardo reportedly organised it. The brother, again. He reportedly also discussed receiving the senator with US officials. The video said never. The plan, according to O Globo, was weeks ahead. The two do not match. ## True president, then leader About seven hours after landing, Flávio Bolsonaro publishes a letter. He calls himself the “true president”. His own party has recognised Lula’s victory. So have the institutions. The major newspapers react. Folha de S.Paulo, O Globo and O Estado de S.Paulo call the declaration coup-mongering. ### The letter changes its title The letter disappears. Another replaces it. The “true president” becomes “the leader of Brazil”. The title shrinks. Three versions circulate, at least. One was enough. One spells Brazil with a z, the English way. The country spells itself Brasil. ### Thanks to Milei, thanks to Trump The letter thanks Javier Milei. It hails him “for his courage, sense of justice and legality”. Donald Trump gets his thanks too, with “the wonderful American people”. Washington will appreciate it. Fraud returns, without evidence. The electoral court and the Supreme Court have rejected it. So have Congress’s leaders. *Flávio Bolsonaro was due to hand over his passports. He published a letter.* ## A 4.4 million vote gap **4.4 million** votes separate the two candidates, according to the BBC. The count is settled. Lula takes **51.79%**. The senator, **48.21%**. In the first round, on October 4, he led with 47%, against 45% for Lula. Three weeks were enough. ### The judge appointed by the father Kássio Nunes Marques heads the Superior Electoral Court. He confirms the victory. Jair Bolsonaro had appointed him. Flávio’s party follows on October 26. “We recognise the presidential result.” ### Trump, in two steps Trump starts by doubting. On October 26, he says the vote “looked like another rigged election”. He offers no evidence. Al Jazeera notes it. No evidence of malfeasance has emerged. Once Flávio is in Florida, Trump changes his tone. He says he’ll stay out. He still speaks of a “very strange election”. The first served the loser. The second protects the vote. ## The father already knew the road to Florida The father left Brazil for Florida in December 2022. Lula was not yet inaugurated. Jair Bolsonaro stays three months, according to the Guardian. He eventually returns. On January 8, his supporters storm the government buildings and the Supreme Court. He is still in America. He would later cite that absence at his trial. He is convicted. The sentence falls: 27 years. ### A soldering iron against an ankle monitor Under house arrest, the patriarch tried to destroy his electronic ankle monitor with a soldering iron. The brother lives in Texas. Sentenced to four years in prison for trying to interfere in his father’s trial, Eduardo is the subject of an arrest warrant. ### A dozen departures before him Flávio follows the road. He is not the first. About a dozen allies of Jair Bolsonaro have done the same, the Guardian writes. Politicians and influencers among them. The paper calls it almost standard practice. The word is right. ## The voters who stayed home Rogério Marinho ran the campaign. He says he was surprised. Just the day before, he recounts, they were talking about Flávio as opposition leader, “with the 60m votes he received”. The figure is his. Marinho cited a model. Asked about leading the opposition from abroad, he replies: “María Corina Machado did it.” ### Almost one voter in two Almost one voter in two voted for him on October 25. If you were one of them, your candidate now writes to you from Florida. He wants to lead you. You stayed put. ### Michelle, Tarcísio, and the others Political scientist Magna Inácio sees a possible power vacuum on the right. She teaches in Minas Gerais. Camila Rocha cited polls. Bolsonaro supporters preferred other names before the vote. Among the favoured names, Michelle Bolsonaro, recently elected senator, and Tarcísio de Freitas. He governs São Paulo. *The leader took the plane. His voters kept their address.* ## January 31 A date looms. On **January 31**, his Senate term of eight years ends, according to the BBC. Immunity ends that day. ### A red notice requested Workers’ Party lawmakers asked the Supreme Court for his arrest. They also want Interpol involved. The police face criticism. The departure slipped past them. ### A destination still unclear According to the BBC, his final destination remains unknown, as does the length of his stay. Meanwhile, he writes. ## Lula finds the word, and goes further On October 27, Lula celebrates his 81st birthday in Brasília. He targets his rival. Leaving is “shameful”, he says. “He who owes nothing, fears nothing.” Lula is right about that. A candidate who slips away without handing over his papers is not acting as opposition leader. He leaves a void. ### “Licking the boots of the US” Lula does not stop there. Brazil would be the Bolsonaros’ second homeland, he says, and their first would be “licking the boots of the US”. On homeland, he speaks to Washington as much as to the senator. There, he goes further. ### The visa, a gift to Lula I keep the first word. The second stays with Lula. The American visa suits him. It serves as his argument. Flávio dreamed of leading the opposition. He serves the president. ## The letter instead of the passport ### Three passports, one letter Brasília cancelled two passports. The courts wanted the others. Washington opened the door. ### In Brazil, two probes Two investigations await him. January 31 approaches. *No passport ever followed the letter from Miami.* Flávio Bolsonaro was due to hand in his passport, and Washington granted him a visa. What is an order to surrender a passport worth, if an ally promises a visa the very next day? **By Maxime Marquette, columnist** ## Columnist's transparency note ### Editorial stance I am not a journalist but a **columnist and analyst**. My expertise lies in observing and analysing the geopolitical, economic and strategic dynamics that shape our world. My work is to take political strategies apart, to understand global economic movements, to put the decisions of international actors in context and to offer analytical perspectives on the changes that are redefining our societies. I do not claim the cold objectivity of traditional journalism, which stops at reporting facts. **I claim analytical clarity**, rigorous interpretation and a deep understanding of the complex issues that concern us all. My role is to give meaning to the facts, to place them in their historical and strategic context, and to offer a critical reading of events. ### Method and sources This text keeps the basic distinction between **verified facts and interpretive analysis**. The rule never changes: a factual claim is published only when a verifiable source supports it, and the sources this article actually used are listed under **Sources**, never here. **Primary source families** used by the publication, when the story has them: official statements from governments and international institutions, public statements by political leaders, reports from intergovernmental organisations, dispatches from recognised international news agencies. **Secondary source families**: specialised publications, internationally recognised news media, analyses from established research institutions, reports from industry organisations. When an article cites statistical, economic or geopolitical data, it comes from the institutions that produce it (intergovernmental organisations, central banks, national statistics offices), and the exact institution is named under **Sources**. ### Nature of the analysis The analyses, interpretations and perspectives in the analytical sections of this article are a **critical, contextual synthesis** based on the information available, the trends observed and the expert comments cited in the sources consulted. My role is to interpret these facts, to set them in the context of today's geopolitical and economic dynamics, and to give them a coherent meaning within the larger story of the changes shaping our time. These analyses reflect expertise built through continuous observation of international affairs and an understanding of the strategic mechanisms that drive global actors. This article describes a documented state of affairs on its publication date, not a prediction: later developments may shift its outlook. No update is promised in advance; when an article is corrected or completed, the change is dated in the text. ## Sources: ### Primary Sources: - [Brazilian Federal Police — press note on Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, October 28, 2026](https://www.gov.br/pf/pt-br/assuntos/noticias/2026/10/nota-a-imprensa-3) - [BBC — Flávio Bolsonaro denies fleeing Brazil after landing in Miami, October 29, 2026](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c6kglwe4lxwzo) - [The Guardian — Flávio Bolsonaro flees Brazil after presidential election loss, reports say, October 27, 2026](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/oct/27/flavio-bolsonaro-brazil-argentina-fled) ### Secondary Sources: - [The Guardian — Flávio Bolsonaro calls himself the leader of Brazil after fleeing to Miami, October 28, 2026](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/oct/28/flavio-bolsonaro-miami-us-fleeing-brazilian-election-defeat) - [Al Jazeera — Flávio Bolsonaro flees Brazil after election loss, US says it will grant visa, October 27, 2026](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/10/27/flavio-bolsonaro-flees-brazil-after-election-loss-us-says-will-grant-visa) - [BBC — Lula wins fourth term in dramatic Brazil election comeback, October 26, 2026](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckm23y3mg1yyo) --- Source: Maxime Marquette, MadMax. 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