Flávio Bolsonaro lands in Miami after defeat in Brazil's presidential election

Brazilian Senator Flávio Bolsonaro has flown to Miami after losing the country's presidential election on Sunday.

His arrival in Florida ends days of confusion over his whereabouts, after he was reported to have travelled to Argentina, and then prematurely reported to have already entered the US on Tuesday.

The US has said it would grant visas to Bolsonaro and his family, who travelled with him. Brazil cancelled his passport, after he failed to surrender it to authorities, due to an ongoing criminal investigation. He has denied any wrongdoing.

In a statement, Bolsonaro cast himself "as the true elected president of Brazil", and thanked the American government for granting entry to his family.

Newly reelected President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has criticised the departure, saying "those who have nothing to hide have nothing to fear".

In a statement issued after his arrival in the US, Bolsonaro thanked both the presidents of Argentina and the US, and the American public "who share the same values ​​as the good people of my own country".

"It was never my intention to leave my homeland, but I know exactly where this is heading," he said.

He called himself a victim of a coup d'état and political persecution, and said his travel to the US was to protect his family.

"I want to tell not only my 60 million voters, but the entire Brazilian people, that I am the elected president," he alleged.

"The criminals who stole Brazil's election are part of a criminal organization that has established a tyranny."

Speculation about Bolsonaro's whereabouts was first triggered by a report on an Argentine news site, which claimed that he had crossed the land border between Brazil and Argentina and then boarded a private plane en route to the US.

Brazilian police took the rumours seriously. Early on Tuesday, they checked border crossings but found no evidence that Bolsonaro had left the country, and Argentine officials said they had no reports of him crossing.

For a little while, it seemed like Bolsonaro may just be keeping an uncharacteristically low profile after being unexpectedly beaten by his left-wing rival in the presidential run-off vote on Sunday.

When he failed to surrender his passports in time to meet a 24-hour deadline, Brazilian authorities cancelled the documents and ordered police to make checks at border posts.

With Bolsonaro's lawyers saying they did not know where he was, speculation quickly grew again that he might have left the country.

How did Flávio Bolsonaro end up in Miami?

Confusion about Bolsonaro's whereabouts as Argentina says he flew to Ecuador

Then, several sources told the BBC and other broadcasters he was on his way to the US.

The US State Department confirmed that it would issue Bolsonaro and his family visas to enter the country.

There were even reports that he had already landed. BBC Brasil and BBC Mundo were informed by three people close to the Bolsonaros that the senator had arrived in the US.

A cousin, who is close to Flávio Bolsonaro and his younger brother Eduardo, told BBC Brasil that the defeated right-wing candidate had arrived in Miami.

Another close aide to Eduardo Bolsonaro told BBC Mundo that Flávio was with his younger brother in Miami.

Neither Flávio nor Eduardo Bolsonaro could be reached directly for comment at the time.

Hours later, however, Argentine migration authorities posted a tweet saying that Flávio Bolsonaro, his wife, and two daughters had only just crossed into Argentina over land on Tuesday night local time.

At around the same time, US President Donald Trump told reporters who quizzed him over the matter: "I heard he was in Argentina."

Flight tracking data verified by the BBC suggested the Bolsonaros departed from Puerto Iguazú in Argentina at 12:18 local time (03:18 GMT) on Wednesday to head to Guayaquil in Ecuador.

After a brief stop, the same private jet took them to Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport, where they were pictured disembarking just before 09:30 local time (13:30 GMT).

Photographers, who had been waiting for his arrival to finally put an end to all the speculation, swarmed around Bolsonaro as he left the airport in Miami, while his team tried to cover him with umbrellas.

Flávio Bolsonaro is not the first member of his family to travel to the United States.

His father, Jair Bolsonaro, also left Brazil for Florida in December 2022 before his successor, President Lula, was inaugurated.

Jair was still in the US when his supporters stormed Brazil's government buildings and Supreme Court on 8 January. He later used his absence as part of his defence in his coup trial, which led to a conviction and 27-year sentence.

Eduardo Bolsonaro, meanwhile, has been living in Texas after taking leave from Brazil's Congress. While in the US, he lobbied officials there in an attempt to influence the coup trial of his father, which led to the US imposing punitive tariffs on Brazil and sanctions on key officials.

Eduardo was convicted in absentia over this by Brazil's highest court earlier this year.

It is not yet clear what Flávio Bolsonaro's ultimate destination will be, nor how long he plans to stay in the US.

He is the subject of two investigations currently pending before Brazil's Supreme Federal Court.

One is regarding possible irregularities in the transfer of nearly $70m (£53m) from private bank Banco Master to the film Dark Horse – a biopic about his father.

The second investigation relates to alleged money laundering, both of which Bolsonaro denies.

He is set to lose his parliamentary immunity on 31 January, when his eight-year Senate term ends.

Lula wins fourth term in dramatic Brazil election comeback

Lula's comeback in Brazil dents Trump's ambitions for Latin America