How Bolsonaro’s whereabouts became a hot topicpublished at 1:49 p.m. GMT
Vanessa Buschschlüter
Latin America and Caribbean Editor
Image source, ReutersBolsonaro spoke to the media shortly after the election result, where he refused to concede.
The last 24 hours have been flooded with rumors and confusion around a single question: where is Flávio Bolsonaro?
The speculation begins
Speculation was first sparked by a report on an Argentine news site that said he had crossed the land border between Brazil and Argentina and boarded a private plane en route to the United States.
Brazilian police took these rumors seriously. They checked border crossings but found no evidence that the defeated presidential candidate had left the country, and Argentine officials said they had no information that he had crossed.
For a time, it appeared as if the defeated presidential candidate was keeping an unusually low profile after being unexpectedly defeated by his left-wing rival in Sunday’s presidential election runoff.
“No intention of leaving Brazil”
In the latest video he uploaded to social media, he revealed that the Supreme Court had ordered him to hand over his passports – an order he described as an “attempt to intimidate” him. He added that he had no plans to leave Brazil.
But then the deadline set by the Supreme Court for Bolsonaro to hand over his documents came and went… without Bolsonaro showing up.
Where in the world is Flávio Bolsonaro?
This led to the cancellation of his passports and attempts to establish his whereabouts.
His lawyers said they did not know where he was.
Multiple sources later told the BBC and other channels that he was on his way to the United States.
The US State Department confirmed it would issue him and his family visas to enter the United States.
It was even reported that he had already landed.
“I heard he was in Argentina”
But when reporters asked US President Trump about it, he responded simply: “I heard he was in Argentina.”
A tweet from Argentine immigration officials around the same time said Bolsonaro and his wife crossed the border Tuesday evening and boarded a plane to Guayaquil, Ecuador.
However, it was unclear at the time whether this would be the final destination.
Lots of new questions
That same plane has now landed in the United States…and Bolsonaro was seen exiting.
While this ends speculation about its whereabouts, it raises many new questions.
Stay with us as we unpack some of them.
Image source, ReutersThis is the plane on which Bolsonaro arrived in Miami
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