Lula calls Bolsonaro's departure 'shameful'

RIO DE JANEIRO — Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Tuesday criticized defeated presidential candidate Flavio Bolsonaro for leaving the country following the election, calling the move "shameful".

"I regret that he left Brazil … And his decision to leave Brazil is shameful," Lula told supporters who gathered outside the Alvorada Palace, the presidential residence in Brasilia, to celebrate his 81st birthday.

Argentina's government said on Wednesday that Bolsonaro boarded a flight to Ecuador after fleeing Brazil.

Bolsonaro entered Argentina on Tuesday night before boarding a flight to Ecuador, the country's National Directorate of Migration said on X.

The 45-year-old entered Argentina "with valid travel documents and no legal impediment", it added, despite a court order banning his exit.

Bolsonaro, his wife and two daughters boarded "a private flight operated by the company Baires Fly S. A. bound for the city of Guayaquil, Ecuador", the government agency said.

According to data from the Flightradar24 website, the flight took off just after midnight on Wednesday from the Argentine town of Puerto Iguazu in the country's northeast.

Baires Fly did not immediately respond to AFP's request for comment.

Reuters TV images showed that Bolsonaro arrived in Miami on Wednesday.

The US State Department had earlier said it would issue visas to Bolsonaro and his family but did not confirm their travel plans.

US President Donald Trump told reporters on Wednesday that he would approve of Bolsonaro coming to the United States.

"Well, I would approve. I think they're fine people," Trump said.

Brazil's Supreme Federal Court on Monday barred Bolsonaro from leaving the country. According to Brazilian media reports, the judicial order is related to a money laundering investigation by the court in which Bolsonaro and lawyer Willer Tomaz are both under investigation.

Bolsonaro's departure has not been officially confirmed.

Under investigation

Brazilian media reported that there was no record in the country's immigration control system indicating that he had left Brazil through regular border controls. The Federal Police were investigating whether and how he might have left the country.

Bolsonaro's campaign manager Rogerio Marinho expressed shock over reports that the defeated candidate had fled Brazil.

"We still don't have any news about his whereabouts," he told reporters in Brasilia on Tuesday.

"I received a text message from him this morning, where he said he would let some time pass today and then would talk with us, and that was it," Marinho said.

Lula defeated Bolsonaro in Sunday's presidential runoff, winning 51.79 percent of the valid votes against Bolsonaro's 48.21 percent.

Brazilian media reported on Monday that Brazilian Supreme Federal Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered Bolsonaro to surrender his passports to the Federal Police and barred him from leaving the country.

The confidential ruling is part of an investigation involving Bolsonaro and lawyer Willer Tomaz, according to Brazil's public news agency Agencia Brasil.

Moraes also prohibited Bolsonaro from contacting Tomaz, Brazilian media reported. Both men are under investigation by the Federal Police on suspicion of money laundering and illegal foreign exchange transactions.

XINHUA-AGENCIES