Flavio Bolsonaro Arrives in US Amid Legal Turmoil
Brazilian senator's arrival follows Supreme Court order and father's coup conviction.
Callum Smith
Flavio Bolsonaro has arrived in the United States after departing Brazil.
His father, Jair Bolsonaro, received a 27-year sentence for plotting a coup after supporters stormed government buildings in Brasilia. The elder Bolsonaro lost to leftist incumbent Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva but has yet to concede.
Lula accused Washington of colluding with the Bolsonaros to reinstate them to power. Flavio Bolsonaro fled Brazil through Argentina and Ecuador.
The group boarded a private charter flight operated by Baires Fly S.A. for Guayaquil, Ecuador, shortly after clearing immigration control. Bolsonaro boarded a Gulfstream IV jet, registered as LV-JQW, in Puerto Iguazú, Argentina; the aircraft had been at Puerto Iguazú airport since the early hours of the previous morning.
Footage shows two vans crossing the border checkpoint, then escorted to the airport. Argentine officials stated the group possessed valid travel documentation and faced no legal impediments to entering the country.
The flight made a brief stop in Ecuador before continuing to Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport. Unnamed sources claim the US State Department was due to grant Bolsonaro and his family entry visas.
It remains unclear how he left the country while facing the 24-hour deadline to surrender his passports. Bolsonaro loses his immunity from prosecution when his Senate term ends in February.