BOLSONARO FLEES TO THE U.S.: Brazil Cancels His Passports After He Defies Court Order

Days after Brazil’s presidential runoff, Senator Flávio Bolsonaro left the country for the United States after defying a Supreme Court order to surrender his passports. Brazil’s Federal Police have now cancelled them.

Senator Flávio Bolsonaro has left Brazil for the United States, days after Brazil’s presidential runoff, defying a Supreme Court order to surrender his passports within 24 hours.

Brazil’s Federal Police have now cancelled his passports, according to reports on his departure.

The U.S. State Department says it will issue visas to Bolsonaro and his family, clearing the way for their stay in the United States.

How he left the country remains unclear. Police say there is no official record of his departure, leaving the route and timing of his exit unaccounted for in official records.

The passport order had set a 24-hour deadline for Bolsonaro to hand over his travel documents. His departure instead of compliance set up a direct confrontation with the court order, and the cancellation of his passports followed.

The episode adds another chapter to the long-running standoff between the Bolsonaro family and Brazil’s Supreme Court, which has repeatedly moved against allies of the former president in cases tied to elections and democratic institutions.

For now, the central facts are the ones on the record: a court order defied, passports cancelled, visas promised, and a departure that Brazilian authorities say they cannot trace in their own records.

Reporting: The Hindu BusinessLine