Brazil cancels Flavio Bolsonaro's passports after missed deadline

Brazil’s federal government canceled Senator Flavio Bolsonaro’s passports on Tuesday following his failure to submit the documents to a Supreme Court order. Two sources within the federal police stated that authorities are actively attempting to locate the former presidential candidate.

The legal action stems from a money laundering investigation in which Bolsonaro denies wrongdoing. The court granted him a 24-hour window on Monday to hand over his travel documents. That deadline expired without compliance, prompting the immediate cancellation of his passports.

Bolsonaro entered the final stretch of the presidential campaign as the favorite to win the vote held on Sunday. He lost to incumbent President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in a result described as a shock by local observers. Although his Liberal Party acknowledged Lula’s victory on Monday, Bolsonaro has not officially conceded. On Sunday, he stated his intention to seek an annulment of the election results based on alleged voter irregularities.

The uncertainty surrounding the senator’s location has drawn comparisons to his father, former President Jair Bolsonaro. Jair Bolsonaro moved to the United States in 2022 after refusing to concede his defeat to Lula. He later returned to Brazil and received a 27-year prison sentence for plotting a coup.

Argentine authorities investigated reports that a private plane landed at Iguazu International Airport, which sits on the border with Brazil. A government statement said officials checked the aircraft and its crew but found no flight plan listing the Bolsonaro family. The government confirmed it had no record of the senator entering the country. A spokesperson for President Javier Milei noted that there is no asylum request on file.

A senior Brazilian Federal Police official said Bolsonaro has not exited Brazil through any regular migration point. Citizens of Brazil only require an ID card to enter neighboring Argentina, so a passport is not mandatory for that specific crossing. The United States State Department said it had no comment and would leave it to Bolsonaro to address the details.

Eduardo Bolsonaro, Flavio’s brother who resides in the United States, told podcaster Steven Crowder on October 23 that an election loss would require a move. He said he favored his brother leaving the country if he did not win. Paulo Figueiredo, a right-wing influencer acting as an unofficial spokesperson for the family, declined to answer questions about the senator’s whereabouts. He said in a message that he was not in the mood to speak to the press after months of work that had been unfairly thwarted. Another source close to the senator said they tried to reach him by phone on Tuesday morning, but he did not pick up.