The United States, a refuge for the Bolsonaro clan

Not even two days after losing the presidential runoff to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Flávio Bolsonaro fled Brazil. He did so despite Judge Alexandre de Moraes having ordered him to surrender his passports and barred him from leaving — or perhaps it was for that very reason. He traveled to the United States with his wife, Fernanda, and their two daughters. A State Department spokesperson confirmed on Tuesday that the United States will issue visas for all four of them.Lula called the flight ‘shameful,’ and the logistics of the escape are being investigated by the Federal Police. ‘The Bolsonaro family is like that. Brazil is their second nation; the U.S. is their first.’ The Supreme Court is investigating the senator for alleged money laundering alongside his friend, the lawyer Willer Tomaz, in a purported scheme that involves sports betting houses. Both deny being partners or committing any wrongdoing.On October 23, two days before the runoff, the candidate’s brother, Eduardo Bolsonaro, hinted at the possibility that Flávio might flee Brazil. Speaking on a U.S. podcast, he said: ‘If my brother doesn’t win, I’m in favor of him leaving the country, absolutely.’ Yet on the eve of the vote, in a video posted to his social media, Flávio Bolsonaro had insisted he would not leave. ‘I never thought about leaving the country,’ he said. ‘I will hand over my passports and defend myself against this aberration, which is a clear attempt to intimidate me.’ He also vowed to organize and lead the opposition to Lula himself.Flávio’s journey repeats a route the family knows well. Jair Bolsonaro flew to Orlando on December 30, 2022, on an Air Force plane, two days before handing over power following his defeat at the polls. He was there when his supporters stormed the headquarters of the three branches of government in Brasília on January 8. He stayed at the home of former mixed martial artist José Aldo, near Disney World, and photographers caught him eating alone at a KFC. Under the Biden administration there was no protection, only tolerance at best. His head-of-state visa expired 30 days after leaving office, so he applied for a tourist visa and 41 Democratic members of Congress demanded it be revoked. He returned to Brazil on a commercial flight in March 2023, and what followed was his own downfall. In June that year the electoral court disqualified him until 2030 and, in September 2025, the Supreme Court sentenced him to 27 years and three months in prison for attempting a coup.Eduardo, the third son of the former president, left in early 2025 while still serving as a federal deputy. He settled in Texas, announced he was stepping away from his seat and began seeking support for his father in Washington, even at the expense of measures that harmed Brazil. His efforts bore fruit. In mid-2025, Trump imposed a 50% tariff on some Brazilian exports and issued financial sanctions against Judge Moraes. Trump demanded an end to the ‘witch hunt’ against former president Bolsonaro. Eduardo told Reuters he had asked for sanctions against the judge and his family, and described the tariffs as a ‘last resort.’ Lula, who confronted Trump, called him and his father ‘traitors.’At the end of 2025, after several contacts between the two presidents, Washington eased the tariffs and lifted the sanctions against Moraes, but Eduardo’s channel of influence remained open. In early 2026, the State Department appointed Darren Beattie, a friend of Bolsonaro’s son and a vocal critic of Moraes, as senior advisor for Brazil. In March, days before a planned visit to Jair Bolsonaro in prison, Brasília revoked Beattie’s visa because, according to the Brazilian government, he lied about the purpose of the trip.In June 2026, the Brazilian Supreme Court sentenced Eduardo to four years and two months in prison for coercion in the case against his father. The court concluded he had pressured the Trump administration to sanction Brazil in order to influence the trial of Jair Bolsonaro. A month later, Washington granted him a green card. Paulo Figueiredo, an ally of the family and former Trump associate, told the newspaper Folha de S. Paulo at the time that Eduardo would be protected by the U.S. Constitution and that any action against him could lead to new sanctions.The shelter network extends to members beyond the immediate Bolsonaro clan. Alexandre Ramagem, who headed Brazil’s Intelligence Agency (Abin) from 2019 during Bolsonaro’s administration, also sought refuge in Florida. He had been convicted in September 2025 in the same case as the former president. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detained him in Orlando on April 13, 2026, with an asylum request reportedly pending according to his circle, and released him a few days later. Brazil is seeking his extradition.Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAÍS USA Edition