Brazil's Flavio Bolsonaro flees to US after presidential election defeat to Lula

Brazilian Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, who lost Sunday's presidential runoff to incumbent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, has reportedly left for the United States, according to an ally who spoke to Reuters on Tuesday.

His reported departure comes amid a money-laundering investigation and a Supreme Court order requiring him to surrender his passports within 24 hours. Flavio denies wrongdoing. Brazilian authorities cancelled his passports on Tuesday after he missed the deadline.

Flavio is also facing scrutiny in several other cases, including a corruption probe into the financing of Dark Horse, a biopic about his father, former president Jair Bolsonaro, who is under house arrest over a plot to stage a coup.

Flavio Bolsonaro challenges election result

Flavio has refused to formally concede defeat, claiming there were irregularities in the vote and saying he would seek to overturn the result through legal action.

However, his Liberal Party acknowledged Lula's victory on Monday, leaving the senator increasingly isolated after his challenge to the outcome.

Flavio last spoke publicly on Monday afternoon in a social media video, saying he had been banned from leaving Brazil and ordered to surrender his passports. His reported departure the following day raised questions about how he travelled despite the restrictions.

Flavio's reported trip to the US has drawn comparisons with his father, former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, who travelled there after refusing to concede defeat to Lula in 2022.

Jair Bolsonaro later returned to Brazil and was sentenced to 27 years in prison for plotting a coup.

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Lula wins presidential runoff

Lula secured more than 64 million votes in Sunday's runoff, defeating Flavio, who received just under 60 million, by nearly 4.4 million votes. The 81-year-old won 51.8 per cent of the vote against the right-wing senator's 48.2 per cent.

The incumbent is expected to take office on January 5, 2027, beginning his fourth non-consecutive term. He is among the world's oldest leaders, with US President Donald Trump, who turned 80 in June, only a few months younger.

"I'm going to deliver the best term any president has ever served in the history of this country," the leftist leader said in a video posted on Instagram.

"I will dedicate 24 hours a day to making this country into the country everyone dreams of," he added.