Gulf · UAE Digital
How Bolsonaro's whereabouts became a hot topic published at 13:49 GMT Vanessa Buschschlüter Latin America and Caribbean editor Image source, Reuters Image caption, Bolsonaro spoke to the media shortly after the election result, where he refused to concede The past 24 hours have been awash with rumours and confusion all centred around one question: where in the world is Flávio Bolsonaro? The speculation was first triggered by a report on an Argentine news site which claimed he had crossed the land border between Brazil and Argentina and had boarded a private plane en route to the US. Brazilian police took the rumours seriously.
They checked border crossings but found no evidence the defeated presidential candidate had left the country, and Argentine officials said they had no reports of him crossing. For a little while, it seemed like the defeated presidential candidate may just be keeping an uncharacteristically low profile after being unexpectedly beaten by his left-wing rival in the presidential run-off on Sunday. In the last video he had uploaded to social media, he revealed that he'd been ordered to surrender his passports by the Supreme Court - an order he described as an "attempt to intimidate him".
He added that he had no plans to leave Brazil. But then the deadline Bolsonaro set by the Supreme Court for him to surrender his documents came and went...without Bolsonaro appearing. This prompted the cancellation of his passports and attempts to establish where he was.
His lawyers said they did not know his whereabouts. Then, several sources told the BBC and other broadcasters he was on his way to the US. The YS State Department confirmed it would issue him and his family with visas to enter the US.
There were even reports he had landed already. But when reporters quizzed US President Trump about the matter, he said he simply said: "I heard he was in Argentina". A tweet by Argentine migration officials around the same time said Bolsonaro and his wife had crossed the border late on Tuesday and boarded a plane for Guayaquil, Ecuador.
However, it wasn't clear at the time if that would be the final destination. That same plane has now landed in the US... and Bolsonaro has been seen leaving it. While this puts an end to the speculation about his whereabouts, it raises many new questions.
Stay with us as we unpack some of them. Image source, Reuters Image caption, This is the plane Bolsonaro arrived on in Miami
Source: BBC
