Brazil cancels Flávio Bolsonaro's passports with whereabouts unclear

Brazil's Flávio Bolsonaro, politically isolated after refusing to accept election defeat, had his passports cancelled on Tuesday as speculation swirled over his whereabouts.

Bolsonaro, 45, was defeated by incumbent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on Sunday and is set to lose his parliamentary immunity as his legal woes pile up.

While he cried foul and vowed to challenge the election legally, his party and allies have accepted the result, leaving him increasingly isolated.

Flávio last spoke publically on Monday afternoon in a video on social media saying he had been banned from leaving the country and ordered to surrender his passports.

However, while he said he would comply with the order, he had failed to do so by Tuesday afternoon.

"Flávio Bolsonaro's passports have been cancelled," a police source told AFP on condition of anonymity, adding that "there is no formal record of Flavio Bolsonaro leaving the country."

Argentina's National Security Ministry and immigration authorities on Tuesday denied local media reports that Bolsonaro had entered the neighbouring country.

Bolsonaro had said the order to surrender his passports was based on a comment by his US-based brother Eduardo Bolsonaro, who told a US podcast two days before the election that "if my brother does not win, I am in favour that he would leave the country."

Flávio Bolsonaro is under legal scrutiny in several cases, including a corruption probe over the financing of the biopic Dark Horse about his father, former president Jair Bolsonaro, who is under house arrest for plotting a coup.

"I never had any intention of leaving the country. I will surrender my passports and defend myself against this travesty," Flávio Bolsonaro said.

Members of Flávio Bolsonaro's inner circle did not respond to AFP requests for comment Tuesday on his movements.

AFP observed a motorcade leaving his residence in Brasília, though it could not be determined whether the senator was inside any of the vehicles.

Lula, who turned 81 on Tuesday, staged a dramatic comeback after losing to Bolsonaro in a first-round vote.

After a revamped campaign and massive mobilisation from the left, he pulled around 4.4 million more votes than his rival.

Bolsonaro refused to accept the result, complaining about an extension of voting hours and accusing Lula of an abuse of powers over a flurry of social spending announcements during the campaign.

While congratulations rolled in for Lula from world leaders on both sides of the political divide, US President Donald Trump, an ally of the Bolsonaro family, said the election "looked terrible to me."

"I didn't take sides but it looked like another rigged election frankly," he told reporters in Washington. "It looked so corrupt."

After the bitter election race, a Supreme Court justice on Tuesday ordered police to investigate alleged foreign funding of Bolsonaro's election campaign, and other interference from abroad such as social media "manipulation."

Justice Flávio Dino ordered the investigation of "the possible origin, circulation and destination of foreign resources" during the campaign.

He also ordered the probe of "deliberate asymmetries and algorithmic manipulation by internet companies aimed at favoring or harming candidacies in Brazil's electoral process."

– TIMES/AFP