Flávio Bolsonaro lands in Miami after losing Brazil's runoff, and the U.S. says it will issue him and his family visasFlávio Bolsonaro lands in Miami after losing Brazil's runoff, and the U.S. says it will issue him and his family visas

Flávio Bolsonaro, a right-wing Brazilian senator and the son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, lost the presidential runoff on Sunday, October 25, to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who is on the left. Lula won 51.79% of the vote to Bolsonaro's 48.21%. The president of Brazil's top electoral court confirmed the result and said a two-hour extension of voting did not change the outcome; formal certification is scheduled for December 18.

On Monday, Bolsonaro was served with a Supreme Court order to hand over his passports within 24 hours as part of a criminal investigation. When he missed the deadline on Tuesday, Brazilian authorities canceled the passports. He crossed into Argentina that night and, after a stop in Ecuador, landed near Miami on Wednesday morning with his wife and two daughters. A senior State Department official said the U.S. will issue visas to him and his family, and President Donald Trump said, "We gave him a pass to come into the country."

Lula criticized the way Bolsonaro left, saying "those who have nothing to hide have nothing to fear." Bolsonaro denies the allegations in the investigations, and he says he did not flee: "I did not flee Brazil; I left for the sake of Brazil." In an open letter on Wednesday, he said "I am the elected president" and that "the criminals who stole Brazil's election" are part of a criminal organization.