Far-right senator Flavio Bolsonaro has reportedly fled Brazil and is heading to the United States after losing Sunday's presidential election to left-wing incumbent Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who condemned the move as “shameful”.

According to Brazilian news website Metropoles, which cited sources close to Bolsonaro's family, the politician was on his way to the United States. “The plane is in flight,” the outlet reported, without specifying the departure location.

Allies of Bolsonaro told Metropoles that he was expected to arrive in Florida on Tuesday afternoon and planned to seek political asylum. The report added that the administration of US President Donald Trump had been informed of the development.

Argentina's government confirmed that Bolsonaro, his wife and two daughters had entered Argentina before boarding a private flight to Ecuador at 11:30pm on Tuesday.

“They did so with valid travel documentation and without any legal impediment to entering the country,” Argentina's National Directorate of Migration said in a statement on X. It added that the transit was recorded by the relevant authorities without incident.

According to the agency, the flight was operated by Baires Fly S.A. and was bound for Guayaquil, located around 260 kilometres southwest of Ecuador's capital, Quito. The family entered Argentina through the Tancredo Neves International Bridge border crossing in Misiones province.

Lula condemns reported departure

Lula criticised Bolsonaro's apparent decision to leave Brazil following his election defeat, describing the move as shameful.

“This is what the family Bolsonaro are like. Brazil is their second homeland. Their first homeland is licking the boots of the US, as he’s become accustomed to doing,” Lula said at an event marking his 81st birthday in Brasilia.

He questioned Bolsonaro's decision to leave the country after losing the election, saying that someone who had nothing to hide should have no reason to flee.

“I keep imagining what’s on the conscience of a citizen who just lost the elections and flees his country … He who owes nothing, fears nothing. A citizen who sneaks out of his country owes something. The act of leaving Brazil is shameful,” Lula said.

Meanwhile, Bolsonaro's allies also confirmed to Brazilian newspaper Folha de S.Paulo that he was heading to the United States. They reportedly said the departure plan had been “organised and enabled by a lawyer close to the Bolsonaro clan”.

The newspaper added that the flight was expected to land within hours. CNN Brasil also reported that Bolsonaro had travelled to the United States with his wife and two daughters in the early hours of Wednesday.

US signals visa support

A spokesperson for the US State Department said Bolsonaro and his family would be granted visas to allow them to enter the United States.

Meanwhile, lawmakers from Lula's Workers' Party have asked Brazil's Supreme Court to order Bolsonaro's arrest. They have also requested that his name be placed on Interpol's Red Notice list.

The reported departure has added a new dimension to Brazil's post-election political tensions, with questions emerging over Bolsonaro's travel arrangements and the legal steps that could follow.

Sun News/ rabbi