Bolsonaro arrives in Miami after mystery escape from Brazil
Netanyahu edges ahead in tight Israeli election
Flávio Bolsonaro landed in the United States on Wednesday after fleeing Brazil, threatening to add new strains to relations between Brasilia and Washington and raising questions about his family’s future as a force on the Brazilian right.
The right-wing senator arrived in Miami shortly after 9am local time (midnight AEDT), ending days of speculation about his whereabouts. Accompanied by his wife and two daughters, he left the Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport without speaking to journalists.
Flávio Bolsonaro arrives in Miami after fleeing Brazil through Argentina and Ecuador. AP Photo/Marta Lavandier
The 45-year-old Bolsonaro lost a tightly contested presidential election to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on Sunday, setting off a dramatic 48 hours. Facing multiple criminal investigations in Brazil, he last spoke publicly Monday, when he said in a social media video that the Supreme Court had ordered him to surrender his passports within 24 hours.
He failed to meet the deadline, and by Tuesday morning reports began circulating in the Argentine and Brazilian press that he had fled to the US. Later that day, the State Department said it would grant Bolsonaro and his family visas to enter the US, while Brazilian newspaper O Globo and other outlets reported that he had already landed in Miami.
