Brazil has summoned Argentina’s top diplomat in the country over Flavio Bolsonaro’s departure following his defeat in Sunday’s presidential election. The right-wing senator travelled first to Argentina and then to the United States despite instructions to stay in Brazil during an ongoing legal case. Government sources told Reuters that Brazil’s Foreign Ministry called in Argentina’s charge d’affaires, Maria Emilia Cortes, on Thursday.
Argentinian Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno denied on social media that his government had received a formal request to explain Bolsonaro’s arrival in Argentina late on Tuesday. The dispute threatens to deepen tensions between Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who secured re-election on Sunday, and Argentina’s libertarian president, Javier Milei. Both countries recalled their ambassadors in August following a series of public disagreements.
Brazilian officials had set a deadline after the election for Bolsonaro to hand over his passports. He is under investigation in the Banco Master money-laundering case, which includes scrutiny of a multimillion-dollar payment he received from the bank’s former head, Daniel Vorcaro. The payment was allegedly intended to finance a film about his father, former President Jair Bolsonaro. The senator denies wrongdoing and says the investigation is politically motivated.
A senator since 2019, Flavio Bolsonaro contested the presidency for the Liberal Party, the political movement associated with his father. He reached the run-off but lost to Lula by more than 4 million votes. Lula received 51.8 percent of the vote, winning a historic fourth non-consecutive presidential term. While the Liberal Party recognised the result, Bolsonaro has refused to concede.
Bolsonaro has made an unsubstantiated claim of electoral misconduct focused on a Supreme Court ruling that extended voting hours on Sunday. Both campaigns had sought additional time. His campaign cited bad weather that delayed voters in parts of the country, while Lula’s party expressed concern about attempts to restrict election-day public transport. Bolsonaro nevertheless argued that the extension disadvantaged voters in areas regarded as right-wing strongholds.
Travelling with his wife and two daughters, Bolsonaro crossed through northern Argentina before taking a chartered aircraft that passed through Ecuador on its way to the United States. After reaching Miami on Wednesday, he proclaimed himself Brazil’s “legitimate president-elect”. He subsequently thanked Milei for assistance without specifying what help had been provided. A spokesperson for Milei characterised the journey as a rescue.
Milei and US President Donald Trump have both publicly supported the Bolsonaro family. Trump also suggested that Sunday’s election was “rigged”, although he declined to “take sides” after the outcome was announced. Milei has repeatedly criticised Lula, and relations between the two presidents have been strained since the Argentinian leader took office in 2023.
Trump previously imposed sanctions and tariffs in response to the prosecution of Jair Bolsonaro, who rejected his defeat in Brazil’s 2022 presidential election. The former president was convicted in 2024 of plotting a coup to stop Lula from assuming office and received a 27-year prison sentence.
