A senior United States State Department official announced that the administration will issue visas to Brazilian Senator Flavio Bolsonaro and his family, granting them entry into the United States. The development follows widespread media reports that Bolsonaro fled Brazil following his defeat in the country’s presidential election.
The announcement came on Tuesday, just one day after Brazil’s Supreme Court ordered Bolsonaro to surrender his passports as part of an ongoing investigation into alleged money laundering. Despite the mounting legal pressure and reports of his departure, Bolsonaro denied any wrongdoing. In a public statement on Monday, he asserted that he intended to remain in the country to lead the political opposition.
Bolsonaro, the son of former right-wing president Jair Bolsonaro, initially declined to accept the election results and vowed to pursue their annulment. However, his political party issued a statement on Monday acknowledging the outcome of the race, which saw the conservative candidate lose by a margin of more than 4.4 million votes.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva sharply criticized the senator’s actions, describing them as shameful. Lula has previously accused members of the Bolsonaro family of seeking foreign interference from the United States to advance their political standing.
“This is what the Bolsonaro family is like,” Lula told reporters. “Brazil is their second nation, the US is their first.”
Meanwhile, United States President Donald Trump responded to the political shift in South America’s largest nation by casting doubt on the legitimacy of the electoral process, telling reporters that the contest “looked like another rigged election.”
Independent observers noted that no credible evidence has emerged to suggest the vote was marred by widespread malfeasance. Although critics pointed to a last-minute decision by election authorities to extend polling hours, Lula’s eventual victory margin was commanding enough that the timing adjustment was considered unlikely to have altered the final outcome.
