Flávio Bolsonaro saga deepens after Argentina says he left for Ecuador

Flávio Bolsonaro, the defeated Brazilian presidential candidate, entered and exited Argentina on Tuesday evening, Argentine migration officials stated, contradicting reports that he had already arrived in the United States. The Bolsonaro family crossed the border from Brazil via Foz do Iguaçu, Argentina's national migration authority announced on its social media platform.

Later that night, the family took a private flight to Ecuador, with their arrival occurring at 11:30 PM local time. This revelation has added to the ongoing confusion surrounding Bolsonaro's sudden disappearance following his loss to incumbent President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. The scandal has intensified in Brazil, where Bolsonaro is currently facing several criminal investigations.

Following Monday's announcement of a Supreme Court order requiring him to surrender his passports within 24 hours, Bolsonaro released a video on social media but ultimately failed to comply by Tuesday. Speculation has since spiked that he may have fled the country. The US State Department has granted Bolsonaro and his family visas to enter the United States, and media outlets such as O Globo have reported he landed in Miami.

Argentina's account of Bolsonaro's entry suggests a chain of ideological connections stretching across the Americas, with Bolsonaro first entering Javier Milei's Argentina before boarding a plane for Ecuador going to Donald Trump's US. While there is no concrete evidence of direct presidential intervention, the Argentine statement does raise questions about Bolsonaro's entry into the country.

The Argentine migration authority confirmed that Bolsonaro and his family presented valid travel documents and faced no legal barriers upon arrival. On Wednesday morning, Brazilian media outlets reported that Bolsonaro and his family were traveling to Miami.