US grants visa to defeated Brazilian presidential candidate Flavio Bolsonaro

Bolsonaro is, of course, under investigation by Brazil's Supreme Court on accusations of corruption, money laundering and tax evasion in two separate cases. So for more on this, France 24's Ketevan Gorgestani joins me on set. Hi, Ketavan. Hello. So after about 24 hours of questions surrounding his whereabouts, initially Argentina denying that he was on Argentinian territory, Flavio Bolsonaro is now in the United States. How did he manage to flee Brazil? Yes, the confirmation was that he touched ground in the United States around 9.30 local time. But following his loss in Sunday's elections, Bolsonaro was actually ordered by the country's Supreme Court to hand over both of his passports, the regular and diplomatic. We're seeing the map there going a little bit ahead of time. But we he failed to give his passports. And that's what triggered the fact that we didn't know where he was, because the Supreme Court was saying they had canceled the passport. But then no one knew where he was. So he left Brasilia, which is his home, apparently by car to cross over into Argentina, into the Tancredo Neves International Bridge. That's where he went into Puerto Iguazu and then took a private plane to Ecuador, Guayaquil, where he spent about an hour or so as a layover and then finally to Miami in the United States. Bolsonaro had also said earlier, which added to the question about whether or not he had actually left Brazilian soil, that he would not flee, that he would not leave Brazil, that he would clear his name from those charges of corruption, and tax evasion and money laundering. But it turns out that he actually followed the footsteps of his father, because remember that his father, Jair Bolsonaro, he also fled to the United States back in 2022 after losing to Lula and after attempting a coup, refusing to recognize those election results. He eventually, after three months, returned to Brazil and is now, of course, serving that 27-year sentence under house arrest. Now, as for his son Flavio, then, none of this, that's to say his escape, would have been possible without the help of the three countries that you mentioned. Absolutely. And the three countries reacted in very different ways. Let's start with the first stop, Argentina. There was an official explanation from the Argentine Migration Authority saying that Bolsonaro and his family had valid documentation And there was no, quote, legal impediment to entering the country. Now, the question is, did the Supreme Court of Brazil not cancel the passports in time to prevent him from crossing? Or, according to a lot of Brazilian sources in the media, that he was using another passport because it is believed that he has an Italian passport. And that would explain why the Argentines said, well, he had valid travel documentation. were letting him through. That said, of course, the Argentine president, Javier Milei, has been a staunch supporter of Flavio Bolsonaro. He actually made the trip in person to Brazil to sort of launch Flavio Bolsonaro's campaign and to show his support and officially endorse Flavio Bolsonaro. So it would make sense that he would help him in this endeavor, if you will. Then Ecuador. Ecuador hasn't officially commented on the whereabouts of Bolsonaro and whether or not he stopped over in Guayaquil or not. Daniel Noboa, the president, it has to be said, did not officially endorse anyone in this race. And he did recognize the results of the election, congratulate Lula. But of course, Noboa is a part of this sort of international or South American, Central American, far right conservative movement and very closely aligned with Donald Trump in the United States, which leads us to the final stop, the U.S. On Tuesday, the State Department had said that, yes, it would grant visas to Flavio Bolsonaro and his family when they arrived and would allow them entry into the United States. And then Donald Trump, both on Monday and on Tuesday, explaining and hinting to the fact that he would be perfectly fine with Flavio Bolsonaro coming to the United States. He called the family a fine family, though he made it clear and insisted repeatedly that he had not endorsed anyone in the Brazilian election. And that is true. He did not endorse Flavio Bolsonaro, but he has always supported Jair Bolsonaro, the father, and now granting that sort of asylum to Flavio Bolsonaro and his family in Florida. For how long? No one knows. We'll see if Flavio Bolsonaro actually comes out and speaks and explains what he's planning to do next. Without mentioning how that might affect the future of Bolsonarismo, so to speak, in Brazil, then Ketevan Gordiani, thank you very much.