Brazil’s Federal Police (PF) canceled Senator Flávio Bolsonaro’s passports after he missed a court deadline, while Argentina later confirmed he crossed its border with family despite a Supreme Federal Court (STF) order barring him from leaving Brazil.
The court required Bolsonaro to surrender his passports within 24 hours. The PF said it canceled the documents after the deadline passed and would notify STF Justice Alexandre de Moraes. Bolsonaro made the sealed order public on social media, Agência Brasil reported.
Argentina’s National Directorate of Migration (DNM) placed Bolsonaro, his wife and two daughters at the Tancredo Neves International Bridge at 9:50 p.m. ET Tuesday, Oct. 27 (1:50 a.m. UTC Wednesday). The agency said the family boarded a Baires Fly private flight at 10:30 p.m. ET (2:30 a.m. UTC), with Guayaquil, Ecuador, listed as the destination. It said the travelers had valid documents but did not identify the type. PF guidance allows Brazilian tourists to travel to Mercosur countries with national identity cards, subject to document requirements.
Earlier Tuesday, the PF said it had no formal record of Bolsonaro leaving Brazil. CNN Brasil identified the aircraft used for the Argentina trip; FlightAware data later showed it heading toward Miami, with an estimated arrival at 9:39 a.m. ET (13:39 UTC) Wednesday, Oct. 28. The tracking data did not identify who was aboard for that leg.
A senior U.S. State Department official told The Associated Press that the department would issue visas to Bolsonaro and his family but did not confirm they had entered the United States. In a video Monday, Bolsonaro said he did not intend to leave Brazil and would surrender his passports. Reuters said the sealed ruling linked the measure to flight risk and Bolsonaro’s “significant financial resources.”
The STF investigation concerns suspected money laundering through betting platforms involving Bolsonaro and lawyer Willer Tomaz; it has not established guilt. Official results show President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva won the Oct. 25 runoff with 51.79% of the vote, against Bolsonaro’s 48.21%. Reuters has reported that former President Jair Bolsonaro went to the United States after refusing to concede in 2022 and later returned to Brazil.
