(REUTERS) - Brazilian Senator Flavio Bolsonaro has left the country for the United States after losing Sunday's presidential election and failing to comply with a Supreme Court order to surrender his passports, two sources said.
The US Embassy in Brazil did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Bolsonaro's lawyer also did not respond.
It remained unclear where Bolsonaro was heading, when he would arrive or whether he would seek asylum. US President Donald Trump's administration has previously alleged that Bolsonaro's father, former president Jair Bolsonaro, was a victim of judicial persecution in Brazil.
Flavio's departure threatens to deepen tensions between the two most populous countries in the Americas. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has accused Washington of colluding with the Bolsonaro family to restore them to power. Reuters previously reported on a US State Department campaign aimed at bringing the family back into office.
Lula's office did not respond to a request for comment.
Flavio Bolsonaro had been favoured to win Sunday's presidential election but suffered a surprise defeat to leftist President Lula.
On Monday, he was given 24 hours to surrender his passports as part of a money-laundering investigation, in which he denies wrongdoing. The deadline has since expired, and his travel documents were cancelled, two other sources said.
Bolsonaro, whose immunity from prosecution is due to end when his Senate term expires in February, said on Monday that he had no plans to flee Brazil.
“I have never thought about leaving the country,” he said, adding that he would surrender his passports and defend himself against what he described as an attempt to intimidate him.
FOLLOWING FATHER'S PATH
Jair Bolsonaro also travelled to the United States after refusing to concede defeat to Lula in 2022, when Joe Biden was president. He eventually returned to Brazil and was later sentenced to 27 years in prison for plotting a coup following the storming of government buildings in Brasilia by his supporters.
Flavio has yet to formally concede defeat, saying on Sunday that he would seek to annul the election result over alleged voting irregularities. His Liberal Party, however, acknowledged Lula's victory on Monday.
It remained unclear how Flavio Bolsonaro managed to leave Brazil while facing the deadline to surrender his passports. A senior Federal Police official said he had not departed through any regular immigration checkpoint.
His younger brother, Eduardo Bolsonaro, who lives in the United States, had said before the election that a defeat would warrant leaving the country.
“If my brother does not win, I'm in favour that he would leave the country,” Eduardo told podcaster Steven Crowder earlier this month.