Brazil's Flávio Bolsonaro arrives in Miami with family after presidential election loss
Defeated presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro landed in Miami with his family on Wednesday morning after losing Brazil's presidential election and fleeing the country, and after U.S. officials told CBS News that he and his family would receive U.S. as he faces investigation for corruption.
Argentina's National Directorate of Migration said on social media that Bolsonaro and his family were en route to Ecuador after leaving Brazil and stopping off in Argentina. At that time, there was no word on whether they were staying in Ecuador.
Brazilian news outlet Metrópoles reported that Bolsonaro left Brazil after being ordered to surrender his passports. His departure followed Sunday's defeat to incumbent President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
At Miami International Airport on Tuesday night, several Brazilian passengers arriving from São Paulo expressed support for Bolsonaro's decision and expressed concerns about their country's political direction.
"Everyone knew this would happen," passenger Eliott Netto told CBS News Miami.
Josua Gias, another Brazilian arriving in Miami, criticized the situation back home.
"What they are doing in Brazil is not good," Gias said.
Another passenger said Brazil would have been better off had Bolsonaro won. The interviews reflected the views of those passengers, rather than a broader measure of Brazilian public opinion.
Bolsonaro is under investigation for suspected money laundering in a case involving Brazil's betting industry. He denies wrongdoing. Brazilian authorities canceled his passports after he missed the deadline to surrender them, according to Brazilian media reports.
Sean Foreman, a political science professor at Barry University, said Bolsonaro's departure could create political complications for the Trump administration.
"He was supposed to surrender his passport and didn't do so," Foreman said.
Foreman suggested Bolsonaro could seek asylum in the United States and said his presence could raise questions about the administration's response to the Brazilian investigation. The announcement that the family would receive visas does not establish that Bolsonaro has applied for or received asylum.
For some Brazilian travelers in Miami, the developments stirred concerns about relatives back home.
"As a Brazilian right now, I am afraid about everything that is happening, and I am afraid Brazil could become a Venezuela," one woman told CBS News Miami.
Lula, meanwhile, called Bolsonaro's departure from Brazil "shameful" on Tuesday, according to the reporting provided to CBS News Miami.