Flávio Bolsonaro rumoured to have fled Brazil after presidential election loss

The far-right senator Flávio Bolsonaro has reportedly fled Brazil and is on his way to the United States after losing Sunday’s presidential election to the leftwing incumbent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

A report by the news website Metrópoles, citing people close to the politician’s family, said he was en route to the US. “The plane is in flight,” Metrópoles reported, without making clear where it had departed from.
Bolsonaro had not been seen since Monday and missed a Tuesday-morning deadline to hand his passport to the federal police, fuelling rumours that he may have fled Brazil after losing on Sunday.

A report in the Brazilian newspaper O Globo said that during a meeting with friends and lawyers on Monday, the defeated candidate had appeared “possessed and made it clear he was afraid of being arrested”.