Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro, who lost Brazil's presidential election to leftist incumbent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on Sunday, declared himself the country's leader after arriving in Florida on Wednesday.

Bolsonaro fled his country after Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered his passports to be seized less than a day after Lula won the election.

"I want to say, not only to my 60 million voters but to the Brazilian people, that I am the leader and that the criminals who stole Brazil’s election are part of a criminal organization that has established a tyranny," he said in an open letter posted on X. 

According to Reuters, Bolsonaro initially declared himself "the elected president" in a since-deleted post. He then sent out an updated letter on X, which included calling himself the rightful "leader" of Brazil. 

Bolsonaro, who lost the runoff election by a 3.58% margin, was served with an order to forfeit his passports and not to leave the country on Monday.

"I was ordered right on the street to hand over my passports, and I'm also prohibited from leaving the country," Bolsonaro said, according to a Fox News Digital translation of a video he posted to his social media channels Monday.

The order was signed by de Moraes, who Bolsonaro supporters accuse of being a staunch ally of Lula.

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Bolsonaro landed at Opa Locka Executive Airport just north of Miami with his family Wednesday morning after President Donald Trump granted Bolsonaro and his family visas.

When asked Wednesday if he would approve of Bolsonaro coming to the U.S. following his defeat, Trump told reporters he would, adding, "I think they’re fine people."

"The election ‌was very strange," Trump continued. "And I thought ⁠it was terrible. It’s gotten bad reviews. You look at what happened to their market."

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Brazil's stock market plummeted Monday after Lula's victory. Its benchmark index, the Ibovespa, closed down nearly 14% on the first day of post-election trading. The Brazilian real also suffered one of its steepest drops in history, losing nearly 11% of its value relative to the U.S. dollar.

Trump also said, "I didn’t take ​sides, but it looked like another rigged election."

Brazilian news outlet MD+ reported that Brazilian Federal Police requested Bolsonaro's passport seizure order just seven minutes after Brazil's Superior Electoral Court confirmed Lula's victory.

Bolsonaro, the son of former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, initially said he would comply with the order, but ultimately chose to leave.

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"I have never thought ‌about leaving the country," Bolsonaro said in a social media video on Monday. "I will hand over my passports and defend myself against this travesty, which is a clear attempt to intimidate me."

But Bolsonaro ultimately crossed the border into Argentina, Argentina's National Directorate of Migrations confirmed, saying the Bolsonaro family entered the country "with valid travel documentation and without any legal impediment" Tuesday night. The family then crossed into Ecuador where they boarded a private plane for Florida, according to Time Magazine.

Lula called his decision to leave "a shameful act," recalling his own 2018 arrest for corruption.

Bolsonaro said the order came as a result of a social media post his brother Eduardo made in which he said Flávio should leave the country if he loses the election.

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Flávio was under multiple criminal investigations for alleged money laundering, corruption and tax evasion, according to Brazilian newspaper Folha de São Paulo.

According to Reuters, Bolsonaro denied fleeing Brazil, saying he left to protect himself and his family. He said he was avoiding a witch hunt being carried out by Lula and the Brazilian Supreme Court. 

"I want to make this clear: I did not flee Brazil," Bolsonaro said. "I left Brazil, but I did not abandon the Brazilian people."

On Tuesday, Brazil's Supreme Court also ordered the Federal Police to open an investigation into alleged illegal foreign funding for Bolsonaro’s presidential campaign, specifically focusing on Rockbridge Network, a conservative donor group co-founded by U.S. Vice President JD Vance.

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Flavio Bolsonaro, President Lula da Silva, President Trump and Vice President JD Vance's offices did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital for comment. 

Brazilian Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro fled Brazil for the United States on Tuesday, two days after losing the country's presidential runoff to leftist incumbent President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

The U.S. Department of State will issue visas to Bolsonaro and his family and allow them to enter the U.S., a senior State Department official confirmed to Fox News Digital.

An ally of the far-right conservative senator confirmed his departure from the South American country to Reuters on Tuesday.

Bolsonaro's flight was reportedly headed to Florida, according to Brazilian outlet Metropoles, citing people close to his family.

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The 45-year-old lawmaker had been out of public view since Tuesday morning, the outlet reported.

His departure came as a deadline for him to surrender his regular and diplomatic passports expired at noon Tuesday. 

Brazilian newspaper Folha de São Paulo reported Bolsonaro was under investigation for alleged money laundering and other crimes. 

It remained unclear whether Bolsonaro had complied with the order, The Associated Press reported.

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Bolsonaro was served with the order Monday, a day after Lula defeated him in Sunday's presidential runoff for an unprecedented fourth term.

With 100% of the vote counted, Lula won 51.8% of the vote, defeating Bolsonaro by nearly 4.4 million votes.

He has refused to concede the election and has called for the election results to be annulled, alleging fraud, according to The Associated Press.

Lula addressed supporters after winning re-election, expressing gratitude to the Brazilian people.

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"No one is required to like the president-elect, but he must govern for everyone," Lula said.

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Referring to his opponent, Lula said, "This was a defeat for denialism and lies."

Fox News Digital's David Unsworth and Michael Sinkewicz, as well as Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Incumbent leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva defeated right-wing challenger Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro in Sunday's presidential second-round runoff, according to Brazil’s electoral court and The Associated Press. The deeply polarized nation returned to the polls for a second round of voting on Sunday.

With 100% of the vote counted, Lula won 51.8% of the vote, defeating Bolsonaro by nearly 4.4 million votes.

Despite trailing by nearly 4.4 million votes, Bolsonaro has refused to concede and has called for the election results to be annulled.

Lula addressed supporters after winning re-election to a fourth, nonconsecutive term, expressing gratitude to the Brazilian people.

"No one is required to like the president-elect, but he must govern for everyone," Lula said.

Referring to his opponent, Lula said, "This was a defeat for denialism and lies."

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Lula’s victory followed confusion at polling places after Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Cristiano Zanin ordered a last-minute, two-hour extension of voting nationwide. The order came three minutes before polls were scheduled to close, and some polling places reportedly received word only after they had already closed.

Both the Lula and Bolsonaro campaigns had requested that voting remain open longer, citing transportation problems and severe weather in different parts of the country. Lula’s campaign pointed to problems with buses in São Paulo and Salvador, while Bolsonaro’s campaign cited heavy rain in southern Brazil.

"I've never complained about anything in any election before. Whether I won or lost, I'd just accept it and get ready for the next one. But this time, something abominable is happening," Lula argued.

Bolsonaro called the extension unprecedented and argued that it changed "the rules of the game in the middle of the game." He later asked that the election results be annulled.

Brazil’s electoral court president, Kassio Nunes Marques, said the extension did not affect the results. Legal experts also said Bolsonaro would face a high legal bar to invalidate the election.

Bolsonaro defeated Lula by more than 2.2 million votes in the first round on Oct. 4, with 47% of the vote to Lula’s 45%, but fell short of the 50% majority required to win the election outright.

Lula’s victory marked the first time since Brazil’s military dictatorship ended in 1985 that the second-place finisher in the first round went on to win the presidency.

The victory marks an unprecedented fourth presidential term for Lula and a remarkable comeback victory. The result is even more surprising given that Bolsonaro had led, albeit by tight margins, in recent polling, and Brazil had recently elected a center-right and right-leaning Congress.

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Earlier in the day, Lula voted in São Bernardo do Campo, in São Paulo state, while Bolsonaro voted in northern Rio de Janeiro state, which he represents in the Senate.

The first vote tallies came in from Brazilians living overseas, where Lula won a decisive victory in Germany, and Bolsonaro won an overwhelming victory in Japan.

While Bolsonaro performed well in his southern electoral strongholds, winning by comfortable margins in Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Paraná and Rio Grande do Sul, he won those states by smaller margins than in the first round.

His turnout in the south was not enough to overcome Lula's strong support in the North and Northeast, a reflection of the Workers’ Party’s strength in the country's populous "Nordeste" region.

Bolsonaro also turned in a disappointing performance in Minas Gerais, which geographically and politically straddles the Brazilian north-south divide. Often referred to as the nation's quintessential bellwether state, Minas Gerais has historically been viewed as an important indicator of national election results.

While Bolsonaro won Minas Gerais by 5% in the first round, in the second round, it was essentially tied.

Bolsonaro had received endorsements from other first-round candidates: best-selling author Augusto Cury, former Minas Gerais Governor Romeu Zema, and former Goiás Governor Ronaldo Caiado.

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However, they were not enough to overcome the Workers’ Party’s established political organization. Lula has now appeared on the presidential ballot seven times, winning four of those elections.

Heading into the first round, Flávio Bolsonaro was effectively able to make the case to working-class and middle-class voters that Lula’s economic policies were driving up living costs.

He painted the Lula administration as bloated, tax-heavy and given to racking up debt, tying those issues to inflation and household finances.

Additionally, his message of hardline law and order appealed to a Brazilian public where voters routinely suggest that violence is the most pressing issue.

Nonetheless, these economic and security concerns were not enough to overcome Lula’s support among voters in the North and Northeast, where he won by wide margins.

While Lula will be riding high heading into a historic fourth term in office, he will face a Congress with a center-right and right-wing majority that analysts have described as among the most conservative in Brazilian history.

While Flávio Bolsonaro lost the 2026 election by a narrow margin, the Bolsonaro movement is certainly not going away and arguably remains an influential force in modern Brazilian politics.

The Lula victory also brings to an end a long string of victories for Trump-backed, right-wing candidates across the region. While Trump had not officially endorsed Flávio Bolsonaro, he made no secret of his preference, and enjoyed a close relationship with the Bolsonaro family.

Looking forward to 2030, all eyes will turn to Bolsonaro clan ally Tarcísio de Freitas, who did not enter the presidential race and instead supported Flávio Bolsonaro. The São Paulo governor is likely to remain a leading figure on the Brazilian right.

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In addition to the presidential election, voters in five states, as well as the federal district of Brasília, were also selecting governors in runoff elections.

Fox News Digital's Bradford Betz and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Brazil's estimated 158 million voters could advance Latin America's conservative wave in Sunday's election as the continent's most populous nation could elect conservative Sen. Flavio Bolsonaro as its next president.

The first round election three weeks ago saw a strong performance by Bolsonaro, proving the polls wrong. While incumbent President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (Lula) had been predicted to take the first round by single digits, Bolsonaro ended up winning 47% to Lula's 45%. As neither candidate won a majority, the election went to a second round.

Brazil's election follows a long string of victories for the Latin American right across Central and South America that started with the election of Libertarian outsider Javier Milei in Argentina in 2023.

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2025 saw a right-wing sweep across the region, as Ecuador, Bolivia, Honduras and Chile all voted for conservative heads of state.

In 2026, Keiko Fujimori narrowly defeated a left-wing candidate to win the Peruvian presidency, while most recently, in Colombia, conservative attorney Abelardo de la Espriella bested left-wing Senator Ivan Cepeda.

Bolsonaro's slate of congressional candidates also fared well, ensuring that Brazil will have one of the most conservative congresses in years, and a legislative branch aligned with Bolsonaro's goals, or ready to thwart Lula's agenda.

The two candidates met Friday night for the final debate in Rio de Janeiro, which featured a series of questions organized around Brazil's five geographic regions. While the debate featured some heated personal exchanges, it appears unlikely to have moved the needle in either direction heading into a close race.

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President Donald Trump has heralded these electoral results as vindication for his hardline approach to security, crime, and migration policies, as well as a stamp of approval for the new Shield of the Americas initiative. 

The Trump administration counts on considerably more close allies now than it did at the beginning of Trump's second term.

Yet, the question remains: why is the region resoundingly rejecting the left and progressivism?

Many of the elections have been won by narrow margins, with Brazil being a case in point: Lula bested Jair Bolsonaro in 2022 by just 1.8%. While many Latin American nations remain deeply polarized, there is no denying a right-wing resurgence.

Commentators appear to be expressing a rejection of progressive movements amid growing concerns over safety and security, giving approval to proposals to dramatically ramp up police and military presence to combat crime and drug trafficking.

Meanwhile, leftist parties seem unable to capitalize on recurring concerns over inflation and kitchen table economics, which have played into the hands of the Latin American right, as working class and middle class voters have felt the pinch of rising food, housing and energy costs.

In addition to social and economic concerns, the specter of Jair Bolsonaro also looms over the election.  Flavio Bolsonaro has pledged to free his father, who is currently serving a 27-year sentence on house arrest for allegedly plotting a coup in the wake of the 2022 election.

Lula was also sentenced to a 12-year prison sentence on corruption charges stemming from the infamous Operation Car Wash, until he was freed on a technicality by the Brazilian Supreme Court, and rose from the ashes to win the 2022 presidential election.

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Bolsonaro has narrowly led in recent polls, and enters the second round with some structural advantages. Most importantly, he enjoys the backing of three of the four other major candidates in the race, who failed to advance to the second round. 

Self-help author Augusto Cury, former Goias Governor Ronaldo Caiado, and former Minas Gerais Governor Romeu Zema all officially backed Bolsonaro in the second round.

Entrepreneur Renan Santos, candidate for the Mission Party, declined to endorse either candidate. However, as his political movement is characterized as free-market and libertarian, these voters are also more likely to trend to Bolsonaro.

Thus, Lula needs to win a significant majority of first round voters who backed right-wing or center-right candidates. It's a daunting, but not impossible, proposition.

The entire election may hinge on voters who are voting against a candidate, as much as for a candidate.

Another question looming over the election: has Lula finally worn out his welcome with the Brazilian electorate?

This will be Lula's seventh time in 40 years appearing on a presidential ballot: he lost elections in 1989, 1994, 1998, won in 2002, 2006, and 2022.

Lula famously promised to serve only one term when he ran to oust Jair Bolsonaro in 2022. 

On October 25, 2022, just five days before the last second round presidential election, he posted on his official X account: "If elected, I will be a single-term president."

It was a promise that he did not keep.

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Various polls have shown that voters are not happy with the course of Lula's third term, and even a sizable percentage of Lula backers in 2022 responded with pessimism on the prospect of an unprecedented fourth term.

However, a large percentage of the Brazilian electorate also consistently rejects the prospect of voting for another Bolsonaro for president.

Lula is unquestionably the dominant figure in Brazilian politics over the past half-century. But will his magnetism and charisma be enough to overcome the right-wing resurgence sweeping the continent?