Flávio Bolsonaro reportedly left Brazil; unconfirmed

Brazilian Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro (Liberal Party, Rio de Janeiro) has reportedly left Brazil for the United States, according to two news outlets citing unnamed sources. There is no official confirmation. Metrópoles, a Brazilian news site, reported on Tuesday afternoon (Oct. 27), at 1:41 p.m., that he had boarded a plane with Florida as its final destination, and said people close to his family confirmed this. At 2:33 p.m., the news portal Terra reported that a close ally told the Reuters news agency he went to the United States. Brazil’s Federal Police (PF), the Supreme Federal Court (STF) and the senator himself had not confirmed his whereabouts in the reports reviewed.

What the reports say

According to Metrópoles (in Portuguese), Flávio had been out of contact since Tuesday morning. His last known message, sent at 8 a.m., went to Rogério Marinho, a senator who is part of his campaign. Flávio said he was “clearing his head,” the outlet reported, but did not say whether he had left the country. Terra (in Portuguese), citing Reuters, said the account ties the reported trip to the deadline for handing his passports over to the PF.

What Argentine authorities say

Earlier, the Argentine newspaper Infobae had reported that Flávio would cross the border into Argentina to board a private jet, an account covered in RaisLife’s earlier report (in Portuguese). Argentina’s immigration agency told g1, the Globo news site, that it has no record of him entering the country, according to Jornal de Brasília (in Portuguese). This afternoon’s reports do not mention a stop in Argentina. In a separate story, Metrópoles (in Portuguese) reported, citing unnamed senior PF sources, that the agency contacted Argentine authorities to check on the possible trip. That, too, has no official confirmation.

The campaign’s denial

In a column by Igor Gadelha at Metrópoles, published at 8:16 a.m. and updated at 12:02 p.m., before the reports that he had boarded a plane, Sen. Rogério Marinho (Liberal Party, Rio Grande do Norte), of Flávio’s campaign, said Flávio “has not left” the country. PF sources quoted in the column said he had not gone through a regular immigration checkpoint in recent hours, but acknowledged it would be possible to cross the border without inspection. This afternoon’s reports contradict that denial, and neither account has been officially confirmed.

The Supreme Court order and the investigation

According to Agência Brasil (in Portuguese), Justice Alexandre de Moraes of the STF barred the senator from leaving the country and ordered him to hand his passports to the PF. The decision is under seal, and its terms are known from what the senator has said and what the press has reported. According to Terra, the deadline was 24 hours, and Metrópoles reports that he did not turn in the documents on Tuesday. Flávio and attorney Willer Tomaz are under investigation in an inquiry into suspected money laundering, according to Terra. An investigation is not a conviction, and both men are entitled to the presumption of innocence.

On Monday (Oct. 26), CNN Brasil (in Portuguese) reported, the senator called the measure an “attempt at intimidation,” said he would hand over his passports and said he never considered leaving the country. He linked the order to an Oct. 23 statement by his brother Eduardo Bolsonaro that Flávio should leave Brazil if he lost the election, and said he had never said that himself. According to Metrópoles, he lost the presidential runoff to Lula on Sunday (Oct. 25).

Italian citizenship

Flávio has held Italian citizenship since 2023, according to the Italian government. It said so in a reply from an undersecretary at Italy’s Interior Ministry to a lawmaker in June 2025, which CNN Brasil (in Portuguese) reported in a column by Jussara Soares. The report does not say whether he holds or has ever used an Italian passport. CNN also says the STF order requires him to turn in passports from other countries as well. Citizenship alone says nothing about the reported trip.

What is still unclear

It is not known where the senator is, whether he actually left Brazil, by what route, or what the PF and the STF will do if that is confirmed. This information is current as of 2:33 p.m. Brasília time on Tuesday, Oct. 27, and RaisLife will update this article when official information becomes available.

Sources

• Metrópoles, Oct. 27: Flávio Bolsonaro reportedly went to the U.S., plane in flight (in Portuguese)
• Terra, Oct. 27: Flávio Bolsonaro went to the U.S., senator’s ally tells Reuters (in Portuguese)
• Metrópoles, Oct. 27: Federal Police contact Argentine authorities to check possible trip by Flávio (in Portuguese)
• Jornal de Brasília, Oct. 27: Argentina denies record of Flávio Bolsonaro entering the country (in Portuguese)
• CNN Brasil, Oct. 27: Flávio has held Italian citizenship since 2023, Italian government says (in Portuguese)
• Agência Brasil, Oct. 26: Moraes orders Flávio to hand over passport and bars him from leaving the country (in Portuguese)
• CNN Brasil, Oct. 26: Flávio says PF demanded his passports after visit to Bolsonaro (in Portuguese)

Text by Rai, RaisLife’s virtual reporter (artificial intelligence), with automated editorial review. Data: 2026 elections on RaisLife.