Brazil's Flavio Bolsonaro headed to US, sources say

(reuters.com)

57 points | by jumpocelot 6 hours ago ago

56 comments

  • nthypes 6 hours ago ago

    The most corrupt and coward family in the history of Brazilian politics: Bolsonaro Family

    • guywithahat 5 hours ago ago

      [flagged]

      • nthypes 5 hours ago ago

        Career politician'? LOL. Lula started out as a metalworker and union leader, whereas Flávio Bolsonaro entered politics at age 21 on his father's name and has been a politician literally his entire adult life (state deputy from 2003 to 2019, and senator since 2019). Also, Brazil has separation of powers—it’s the Supreme Court (STF) and electoral courts that prosecute coup attempts, not the president. Do basic research on Brazilian politics before commenting; I’m not wasting my time educating you.

        • toomuchtodo 4 hours ago ago

          Lula also lost a finger on the job as a worker.

          https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c35yn2ye1x85o

        • guywithahat 2 hours ago ago

          He's been in politics since the late 60's, so interpret that how you will. Lula also broke tradition and appointed ridiculously loyal justices to the STF, including his personal attorney and minister. Lula is a well-known corrupt politician who takes bribes, arrests his opponents on nonsense charges, bans or otherwise attacks companies not loyal to him, and now seems to rig elections. He's opposed to basic human rights like free speech and is threatening democracy in Brazil.

          How could you support Lula when Moraes ordered Flávio's arrest within 7 minutes of "winning"? The best chance Brazil has of maintaining a functioning democracy at this point is if the US invades or otherwise forces them to resume fair elections.

  • cassianoleal 5 hours ago ago
  • abirch 6 hours ago ago

    I wonder what happens if the Dems win the White House in 2028. Will he be extradited back?

    • mgiampapa 5 hours ago ago

      Why wait, without a passport he would be an Illegal Immigrant. We have enough crooks in the United States, we don't need to import more of them to take those jobs too!

      • yaakushi 5 hours ago ago

        He also has an Italian passport, so that probably won't be a hindrance.

      • guywithahat 5 hours ago ago

        Yeah but he’s actually a refugee fleeing political persecution, not an economic refugee. The US has and continues to support legitimate refugees

        • jst1fthsdys 4 hours ago ago

          Yup, we have supported legitimate refugees since Paperclip.

  • dudefeliciano 6 hours ago ago

    And this man got 48% of the votes. How the hell do these criminals keep fooling so many people? Oh yea, the likes of Meta are doing their bidding. Musk, Zuckerberg & Co. should be charged for meddling in all these elections (Brazil, USA, Germany...)

    • SmarsJerry 3 hours ago ago

      It’s interesting that it just happens to be after losing an election that all sorts of accusations get made. This sounds more like abuse of power by the winners than a crime but let’s see how it plays out.

    • ted_bunny 2 hours ago ago

      I'm coughing, not saying evangelicalism

    • throwaway473825 5 hours ago ago

      As opposed to Trump, who actually won an election after an attempted coup?

      • sheikhnbake 4 hours ago ago

        I'm sure the list wasn't intended to be exhaustive

    • Rooster61 5 hours ago ago

      [flagged]

      • mentalgear 5 hours ago ago

        There is a gradient of corruption. 'Some' Corruption does not equal = Full on Corruption & Dictatorship goals, which suppresses the opposition and freedom of speech and kills people in broad daylight.

        Some corruption you could argue always existed, e.g. military-industrial complex Eisenhower(!) already warned against in his farewell address as President 60 years ago [0].

        While that sort of corruption has certainly spread and is the root of what makes people's life miserable, the same forces turn the people's anger around via propaganda and their Social Media CEO henchmen to vote for fascists/authoritarians blaming scapegoats - which, if they come into power, leads to only support even more corruption and degradation. Same trajectory as pre-WW2 - hopefully this time we will make the necessary root-cause adjustments before the world population has to suffer for the greed of a very few.

        [0] https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/president-dwigh...

      • gverrilla 5 hours ago ago

        > but he's made plenty of money himself using his position.

        proof?

  • miguelxpn 6 hours ago ago

    What a coward.

    • glerk 5 hours ago ago

      [flagged]

      • garou 5 hours ago ago

        what about the rotting of a brain in a propaganda mind prison?

        • glerk 2 hours ago ago

          sounds marginally better ngl

          but I don’t care much for propaganda from either side. I know for a fact that a commie lies whenever lips are moving.

  • vkou 6 hours ago ago

    His campaign provided him immunity from prosecution, but now that it's over, he is for some reason unwilling to answer for his crimes.

    • Rooster61 6 hours ago ago

      Something something unfair prosecution something something evil supreme court something

      • marcosdumay 5 hours ago ago

        Nobody is even trying to claim that.

        There are many people complaining that the supreme court should have said which of his crimes this is about, but his allies are not even trying to defend him.

    • hersko 5 hours ago ago

      What are his crimes?

      • Rzor 2 hours ago ago

        Money laundering through an associate and close friend, and foreign exchange evasion are the two main ones currently sitting on the Supreme Court.

      • vkou 5 hours ago ago

        Well, the most recent would be a conspiracy to fuck with public transit on election day, perhaps they could start with that, determine the degree of his culpability and involvement, and then keep going in reverse chronological order. Then they could go after corruption, the usual sort of stuff.

        His dad's doing time for a coup and an attempted assassination, and his brother's been convicted of coercing the judiciary, by getting Trump to punish Brazil for his dad's conviction. It's a perfectly normal sort of family, this stuff could have happened to anyone.

    • mentalgear 6 hours ago ago

      Same "I don't want to go to prison" campaign-reason of Trump and Netanyahu. Both have running court trials that would put them in jail if they don't hold political offices.

      BTW: very suspicious downvote activity going on, without real counter-arguments. I guess Netanyahu private-spy-industry bot machinery is again fully deployed at HN to suppress.

  • mentalgear 6 hours ago ago

    Seems like the current US admin is the only place authoritarian Fascists trying to avoid punishments for their deeds can still escape to ... Hopefully today another certain is-really PM will be coming in as well ... safe place ... until November.

    • TremendousJudge 6 hours ago ago

      Depends on who you're aligned with; Moscow is an option for many as well.

      • dudefeliciano 6 hours ago ago

        > Depends on who you're aligned with

        Trump or Putin? Is there a difference?

        • tialaramex 5 hours ago ago

          It appears that if you cross Putin you "fall out of a window" whereas the people in his own country Trump doesn't like just get legal annoyance.

          That's not great, and nobody should pretend it is - but I'd rather be imprisoned for what I believe than thrown out of a window.

          • mentalgear 5 hours ago ago

            > Trump doesn't like just get legal annoyance.

            Until now you mean ... the windows are approaching fast. Let's not forget that his henchmen are already killing unarmed civilians in the streets.

        • cheaprentalyeti 5 hours ago ago

          Yeah. Putin and Lula are strong allies. And suddenly the people who spent the last ten years shrieking about TrumPutin have nothing to say about Lula's attempt to push Brazil into the Russian/Chinese/Iranian power bloc.

          • dudefeliciano 4 hours ago ago

            > people who spent the last ten years shrieking about TrumPutin have nothing to say about Lula's attempt to push Brazil into the Russian/Chinese/Iranian power bloc.

            So now you are the one shrieking? Or what is the point of your comment?

            > “I highly doubt that Russia, China, or the United States possess an army as victorious as the army of democracy in this country,” Lula said, thanking the voters.[1]

            These sound like the words of a real strong ally for sure.

            [1]https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/10/26/brazil-election-20...

      • mentalgear 6 hours ago ago

        Guess that's their final destination if Trumpo losses in November and will be forced with the rest of the coward-criminals to face their crimes.

        PS: I hear Thiel has already bought a large estate in Argentina (yeah, where those WW2 war-criminals also escaped to) in case their fascist government wet-dream doesn't come to be.

  • amai 5 hours ago ago

    "A senior Federal Police official said Bolsonaro had not exited the country via any regular migration point."

    Migration rules are for the poor. Rich people immigrate via private jets or yachts, which are not controlled in any way.

  • gverrilla 6 hours ago ago

    Yesterday he said[0], in free translation: "I never considered leaving the country. I will surrender my passports and defend myself against this outrage, which is a clear attempt to intimidate me."

    A full-on liar.

    0: https://archive.is/d032W#selection-3213.113-3213.279

    • madaxe_again 5 hours ago ago

      "I did not leave the country, for Brazil is always in my heart. I will surrender my passports. One day. After I am finished defending myself against this outrage."

      Slither slither

      • gverrilla 5 hours ago ago

        that's not what he said. unless this reputable source is misquoting, which is not at all common. it's also not implied.

  • undefined 6 hours ago ago
    [deleted]
  • amai 5 hours ago ago

    Another criminal immigrant coming to the US.

    • swat535 5 hours ago ago

      What else is expected? When the sitting president is a convicted felon? .. Has US ever punished any criminal politicians ?

  • madaxe_again 6 hours ago ago

    Well, he'll get a sympathetic reception - Trump has already called the election rigged, and is refusing to recognise Lula.

    I wouldn't be surprised if there are marines and/or mercs on the eixo monumental in November. Trump will need another war/conflict/invasion/occupation, sorry, special military operation, to distract from the midterm losses, and nabbing Maduro played well in Peoria.

    • Rooster61 6 hours ago ago

      > I wouldn't be surprised if there are marines and/or mercs on the eixo monumental in November.

      Unlikely methinks. I think next on Rubio's docket is Cuba. Brazil is a much harder sell dude to the sheer size and population of the country. Not to mention China would have a huge problem with it due to them having as many fingers in Brazilian pies as the US does.

    • ls_stats 5 hours ago ago

      That's not going to happen, Lula has the popular vote. Even remotely comparing him with Maduro is foolish. If US did something, they would be stepping out of the shadows. That would legit cause a political crisis.

      • mitxela 5 hours ago ago

        Has the USA ever shied away from causing a political crisis?

    • vkou 6 hours ago ago

      If he wants to start a war with Brazil, do you think he will win the one with Iran, first?

      • madaxe_again 6 hours ago ago

        He doesn't think that far ahead. He'll be like "we'll grab Lula and install our guy", without thinking about what happens the next day.

    • verdverm 6 hours ago ago

      More likely to bring the Iran war back to save Bibi from an election that could see him removed from power. Bibi tried recently, but Trump said no (more likely wait until after US midterms)

      I believe polls have now closed

      • tialaramex 5 hours ago ago

        In Israel? No, polls close at 20:00 UTC, which is almost two hours from now.

  • undefined 5 hours ago ago
    [deleted]
  • DeepYogurt 6 hours ago ago

    Very innocent behavior /s

  • garou 5 hours ago ago

    [dead]