Flavio Bolsonaro headed to the US after losing Brazil election, sources say

SAO PAULO, Oct 27 (Reuters) - Brazilian Senator Flavio Bolsonaro has left the country for the United States after losing Sunday's presidential election and refusing to comply with a Supreme Court order to hand over his passports, two sources said.

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By Ricardo Brito and Gram Slattery

The US Embassy in Brazil did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Bolsonaro's lawyer also did not respond.

It was not immediately clear where Bolsonaro was heading, what time he would arrive or whether he would seek asylum. US President Donald Trump's administration has previously alleged Flavio's father, former President Jair Bolsonaro, was a victim of judicial persecution in Brazil.

Flavio's departure for the United States threatens to deepen a rift between the two most populous nations in the Americas. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has accused Washington of colluding with the Bolsonaros to put them back in power, and Reuters reported ahead of Sunday's election on a US State Department campaign to restore them to office.

Lula's office did not respond to a request for comment.

Bolsonaro was favored to win Sunday's presidential election but ended up losing in a shock result to leftist Lula.

On Monday, he was given 24 hours to surrender his passports as part of a money laundering probe in which he denies wrongdoing, but that deadline has now lapsed, two other sources said, leading to his documents being canceled.

Bolsonaro, who loses his immunity from prosecution when his Senate term ends in February, said on Monday he had no plans to flee.

"I have never thought about leaving the country," he said. "I will hand over my passports and defend myself against this travesty, which is a clear attempt to intimidate me."

FOLLOWING FATHER'S PATH

Jair Bolsonaro also went to the United States after refusing to concede to Lula in 2022, when former US President Joe Biden was in office. He eventually returned to Brazil but was later given a 27-year sentence for plotting a coup after his supporters stormed government buildings in Brasilia.

His son has yet to officially concede defeat — saying on Sunday he would seek the annulment of the result over alleged voter irregularities — but his Liberal Party said on Monday it acknowledged Lula's victory.

It remains unclear how Bolsonaro was able to leave the country while he was facing a 24-hour deadline to hand over his passports. A senior Federal Police official said Bolsonaro had not exited the country via any regular migration point.

Eduardo Bolsonaro, Bolsonaro's younger brother who lives in the United States, said ahead of the vote that an election loss would require a move.

"If my brother does not win, I'm in favor that he would leave the country," he told podcaster Steven Crowder this month.

(Reporting by Ricardo Brito and Luciana Magalhaes; Additional reporting by Lucinda Elliot, Brendan O'Boyle Oliver Griffin; Editing by Gabriel Stargardter and Aurora Ellis)

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