Flavio Bolsonaro heads for the US as Brazil cancels his passport, reports say

Flavio Bolsonaro, the right-wing candidate who lost Brazil's presidential runoff to President Lula, has left the country and is travelling to the United States, several Israeli news organisations reported. Ynet's news alert service, citing Reuters, reported that Bolsonaro had left Brazil for the US, and The Times of Israel attributed the same account to a source and to media reports.

His departure followed the cancellation of his passport. N12, an Israeli television news outlet, reported that a deadline set for him to deposit the document with the Brazilian authorities had expired, and that the passport was then cancelled automatically. The Jerusalem Post reported that Brazil had cancelled passports after the deadline was missed and described his whereabouts as unknown.

Who Flavio Bolsonaro is

Bolsonaro ran as the candidate of the Liberal Party, known in Brazil by its initials PL. A Reuters photograph published by The Jerusalem Post shows him speaking in Brasilia, the Brazilian capital, after losing the runoff on October 25, 2026. A runoff is the second round of voting held between the two leading candidates when no one wins outright in the first round.

Ynet, citing Brazilian media, reported that he had refused to recognise the election result. According to the same report, he had been required to surrender his passport because an investigation is being conducted against him, a measure intended to keep him from leaving the country. Ynet's account does not specify the subject of that investigation.

Ynet also wrote that Brazilian media saw his conduct as mirroring that of his father. The report, as provided, does not set out the details of that comparison.

How the passport deadline worked

The reports describe a legal requirement rather than a voluntary step. Bolsonaro was given a date by which to hand his passport to the authorities. N12 said that when the date passed without the document being deposited, it was cancelled automatically. The Jerusalem Post framed the same development as Brazil cancelling passports following the missed deadline, using the plural, without explaining in the material available which documents were covered.

Surrendering a passport is a common condition imposed on people under investigation in many legal systems, designed to reduce the risk that a suspect travels abroad while proceedings continue. A cancelled passport would ordinarily not be valid for travel, which raises questions, not answered in the reports, about how he crossed a border.

The Iguacu sighting and Argentina's denial

According to Ynet, it is not clear how or from where Bolsonaro left Brazil. The outlet reported that a private plane was seen at Iguacu, an area in southern Brazil near the border with Argentina. Argentina, however, denied that he had arrived there and denied that he had sought asylum from Javier Milei, the Argentine president.

Ynet also quoted an associate of Bolsonaro who said he had tried repeatedly to reach him by phone without getting an answer.

Where the reports differ

The accounts do not fully agree on where Bolsonaro is. The Reuters-based alert, The Times of Israel and N12 all say he left for, or is making his way to, the United States. The Jerusalem Post, in a report published earlier than the others, said his whereabouts were unknown. Ynet's main article described him as having disappeared and said there were reports he had fled to the US, while noting that the route was unclear.

The language also varies. N12 said he fled the country. The Times of Israel and the Reuters alert used more neutral wording, saying he left Brazil. The Times of Israel attributed its account to an unnamed source and media reports rather than to an official statement.

What the reports do not say

None of the reports includes a statement from Bolsonaro himself, from his party, or from the Brazilian government about his departure. They do not say which authority set the passport deadline, when that deadline fell, or what the investigation against him concerns.

The reports do not explain how he could have travelled after his passport was cancelled, whether he left by air or overland, or whether the private plane seen at Iguacu was connected to him. There is no information on whether he has arrived in the United States, whether US authorities have commented, or whether Brazil intends to seek his return.