- Arrival in Florida: A private aircraft carrying Senator Flávio Bolsonaro (PL-RJ), his wife, and their daughters landed at Opa-Locka Executive Airport in Miami shortly before 10:30 AM BRT on Wednesday (October 28).
- Flight Duration: According to FlightAware, the leg between Ecuador and the United States lasted approximately four hours.
- Overland Border Crossing: Argentina’s National Directorate of Migration confirmed that the family crossed the Brazil-Argentina border via the Tancredo Neves International Bridge in Misiones province at 10:50 PM on Tuesday (October 27).
- Flight Route: At 11:30 PM Tuesday, the family boarded a private plane bound for Guayaquil, Ecuador, before continuing on to Miami.
- Judicial Defiance: Flávio failed to comply with a deadline set by Supreme Court (STF) Justice Alexandre de Moraes to surrender his passports to the Federal Police.
- Contradictory Statements: Just a day prior, the senator publicly denied any intention of leaving Brazil, claiming he would stay in the country to lead the political opposition against President Lula da Silva.
- Money Laundering Probe: The passport surrender order stems from an ongoing Supreme Court inquiry into alleged money laundering involving Flávio and attorney Willer Tomaz. Both deny any wrongdoing.
- Political Context: The departure follows public statements by the senator’s brother, Eduardo Bolsonaro, advocating that Flávio should lead the opposition from abroad if he lost the presidential election.
A private aircraft carrying Brazilian Senator Flávio Bolsonaro (PL-RJ), his wife, and their daughters landed at Opa-Locka Executive Airport in Miami shortly before 10:30 AM BRT on Wednesday (October 28).
According to flight-tracking data from FlightAware, the non-stop leg between Ecuador and South Florida lasted approximately four hours.
The flight completed an international journey that began with an overland border crossing into Argentina, followed by a flight to Guayaquil, Ecuador, where the family boarded a private aircraft bound for the United States. Details regarding their movement through Argentina were officially confirmed by the Argentine National Directorate of Migration.
Migration records indicate that Flávio and his family crossed the border into Argentina at 10:50 PM on Tuesday (October 27) via the Tancredo Neves International Bridge, which connects Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil, to Puerto Iguazú in Argentina’s Misiones province. Approximately 40 minutes later, at 11:30 PM, the family boarded a private flight to Guayaquil before departing for Miami.
Departure Follows Court-Ordered Passport Surrender
Flávio Bolsonaro’s departure from Brazil follows a judicial order issued by Supreme Court (STF) Justice Alexandre de Moraes directing the senator to surrender his passports to the Federal Police. The lawmaker failed to meet the court-mandated deadline.
On the eve of his departure, after being formally served with the judicial notice, Flávio published a video on social media denying plans to leave the country. At the time, he asserted he would remain in Brazil to organize the political opposition against President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s administration.
That statement came in the wake of the October 25 presidential runoff, in which Lula secured re-election by defeating Flávio Bolsonaro by a margin exceeding 4.4 million votes.
The senator’s sudden departure for the United States directly contradicts his previous public assurances, bringing further scrutiny to his non-compliance with Supreme Court directives.
Supreme Court Laundering Investigation
Justice Moraes’ order requiring the surrender of Flávio’s passports was issued as part of an active criminal investigation examining money laundering allegations involving the senator and his associate, attorney Willer Tomaz.
Both individuals remain targets of the inquiry and deny all allegations of financial impropriety. Under Brazilian law, the existence of an investigation does not constitute a formal finding of criminal guilt.
The passport order was issued amid growing concern among legal authorities that Flávio might flee the country following his election defeat. The situation gained traction after public remarks by the senator’s brother, former Congressman Eduardo Bolsonaro.
During a recent livestream, Eduardo argued that Flávio should leave Brazil if he lost the presidential election to lead the political opposition from abroad.
The family’s travel itinerary—crossing overland into Argentina, making a stopover in Ecuador, and landing in Miami on Wednesday morning—follows those remarks and the subsequent Supreme Court order.
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