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Whereabouts of Brazil's defeated presidential candidate Bolsonaro unknown

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This story was published by Africanews on October 28, 2026 and curated on Africa Front.

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African Politics, African Elections, Trade & AfCFTA, Infrastructure

October 28, 2026

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Whereabouts of Brazil's defeated presidential candidate Bolsonaro unknown

The whereabouts of Brazil's defeated presidential candidate Flavio Bolsonaro were unknown on Wednesday after reports that he fled the country.

Bolsonaro lost the runoff election to incumbent Luis Inacio Lula da Silva on Sunday but has refused to concede defeat.

Media outlets including CNN and the Washington Port reported that he had arrived in the United States. Without confirming Bolsonaro's travel plans, the US State Department confirmed that he and his family would be issued visas.

But authorities in Argentina said Bolsonaro had entered the country late on Tuesday and was heading to Ecuador.

The 45-year-old entered Argentina "with valid travel documents and no legal impediment," the country's National Directorate of Migration said on X, despite a court order banning his exit from Brazil.

Bolsonaro, his wife and two daughters boarded "a private flight operated by the company Baires Fly S.A. bound for the city of Guayaquil, Ecuador," the government agency said.

According to data from the Flightradar24 website, the flight took off just after midnight (0300 GMT) on Wednesday from the Argentine town of Puerto Iguazu in the country's northeast.

Corruption investigation

The right-wing senator is under investigation for alleged corruption and money laundering. With his election loss he is also set to lose parliamentary immunity.

He been ordered to surrender his passport by noon on Tuesday.

A police source told AFP that the senator's Brazilian and diplomatic passports had been canceled, adding that "there is no formal record of Flavio Bolsonaro leaving the country."

But he has held Italian nationality since 2023, according to an Italian parliamentary document seen by AFP.

Bolsonaro's campaign manager Rogerio Marinho expressed shock over reports that the defeated candidate had fled Brazil.

"We still don't have any news about his whereabouts," he told reporters Tuesday in Brasilia.

"I received a text message from him this morning, where he said he would let some time pass today and then would talk with us, and that was it," Marinho said.

"That was the only communication we had."

Lula called his alleged departure "shameful."

"A person who sneaks out of their country must have something to hide. The act of leaving Brazil is shameful," he remarked in Brasilia during his 81st birthday celebration.

Bolsonaro said on Monday that the ban on his exit from Brazil amounted to a scare tactic.

"I never had any intention of leaving the country," he said in a video posted on Instagram.

History repeating

All bets were on a Bolsonaro win after he came out on top in the first round of elections earlier this month.

He campaigned on a pledge to liberate his father, who is under house arrest for coup-plotting after his own electoral loss to Lula in 2022.

Jair Bolsonaro never conceded defeat and left the country on the eve of his rival's inauguration, only returning to Brazil three months later.

Separately on Tuesday, the Supreme Court ordered police to investigate alleged foreign funding of Flavio Bolsonaro's campaign and other interference from abroad such as social media "manipulation."

Lula's campaign complained about election interference by Meta, the parent company of WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram, claiming "algorithmic manipulation."

Meta denies taking any actions to favor one side in the election, but previously said that some of Lula's campaign ads had been mistakenly deactivated due to technical errors.