Flávio Bolsonaro flees Brazil, lands in Miami after losing presidential election

By Ivan Taylor Ivan Taylor is a bilingual, award-winning TV journalist who is a seasoned reporter with extensive live and breaking news experience from local and national news outlets. Read Full Bio October 28, 2026 / 2:11 PM EDT / CBS Miami Add CBS News on Google Brazilian presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro arrived in South Florida with his family on Wednesday morning after fleeing the country in the wake of his defeat over the weekend.

The plane, which departed from Ecuador , landed at Miami-Opa locka Executive airport, and CBS News Miami news crews captured the moment when he and his family stepped off the airplane on U.S. soil. CBS News Miami learned that the 45-year-old former presidential candidate from Brazil flew to the Miami airport by using an Italian passport.

Flavio Bolsonaro steps off a plane after arriving at Opa Locka Executive Airport in Miami, Florida on October 28, 2026. Ricardo ARDUENGO /AFP via Getty Images It's unclear if he surrendered his Brazilian passport ahead of time like his country required him to do earlier this week.

Video from Chopper 4 showed his plane landing at the airport Wednesday morning. With him were his wife and two daughters. Bolsonaro is under investigation by the Brazil Supreme Court for alleged corruption, money laundering and tax evasion.

The court had ordered Bolsonaro to hand over his regular and diplomatic passports by noon on Tuesday. That was two days after he had lost the presidential election in Brazil. Metrópoles, a Brazilian newspaper, revealed the flight plan that Bolsonaro used to arrive in the U.S.

The reports said he used his Italian passport to get out of Brazil while his wife and daughters used their Brazilian passports. The newspaper is also reporting that a close source to Bolsonaro is saying he will hold a news conference in Miami this week. In: Brazil South Florida Politics Miami Flávio Bolsonaro arrives in South Florida with family after fleeing Brazil 02:14 Flávio Bolsonaro arrives in South Florida with family after fleeing Brazil (02:14)