Flávio Bolsonaro’s name is said to have appeared on the passenger list of a private jet in the Argentine border town of Puerto Iguazú last night. There is now speculation as to whether this was a diversionary tactic. Sources close to Bolsonaro claim he will soon be landing in the US.
Brazilian pilot Mauro Mattosinho claims according to the newspaper Folha de S. Paulo that Bolsonaro’s name was on the passenger list of a Gulfstream private jet which was scheduled to depart for Fort Lauderdale in Florida at 2 am on Tuesday morning.
The report comes the day after Brazil’s Supreme Court barred the senator from leaving the country following his election defeat on Sunday.
Folha reports that people in Bolsonaro’s inner circle have been told that he has left Brazil and that he is due to land in the US shortly on Tuesday evening, Norwegian time. Bolsonaro’s campaign manager, Rogério Marinho, denied that Bolsonaro had left Brazil, according to the same newspaper.
Bolsonaro is on board a flight to the US, an anonymous official told Reuters.
Argentine authorities say they have no record of him entering the country. The aircraft is still at the airport. The Brazilian press reports that Bolsonaro did not hand in his passports within 24 hours, in breach of the requirement issued to him by the police on Monday morning.
Mauro Mattosinho says he obtained the passenger list from a member of staff at Puerto Iguazú airport.
Banned from leaving the country
The aircraft, operated by Baires Fly S.A., was parked just across the border in Argentina and is said to have been waiting for four passengers, including Bolsonaro. The section for identity documents is reported not to have been completed. The three other passengers turned up, but the departure was halted due to problems with the paperwork.
For Bolsonaro to have travelled by car from Brasília, where he was visiting his father on Monday morning, to Puerto Iguazú in Argentina, he would have had to drive for around 24 hours, a distance of 1,700 kilometres. However, the candidate was not subject to a domestic flight ban yesterday and may have left Brasília in this way.
Just seven minutes after the election result was announced on Sunday evening Brazilian time, Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered Bolsonaro’s passport to be revoked. In addition to his Brazilian passport, he also holds an Italian passport. As a senator, he also holds a diplomatic passport.
Bolsonaro announced yesterday that he will demand the election be annulled, even though his party has officially accepted the result.
