In the first round, senator Flávio Bolsonaro of the state of Rio de Janeiro, the eldest son of former president Jair Bolsonaro, led with 47% of the vote over incumbent president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's 45%. In the second round, Lula overcame his first-round loss and was re-elected in an upset victory to a fourth non-consecutive term as president, outperforming his 2022 result. It was the first instance of a Brazilian presidential election in which the winner of the first round was defeated in the runoff.
Background
Having unsuccessfully run for president in 1989, 1994 and 1998, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of the left-wing Workers' Party was elected in 2002 and 2006. He was then succeeded by his chief of staff, Dilma Rousseff, who was elected in 2010 and 2014. In 2016, Rousseff was removed from office due to administrative misconduct and was succeeded by her vice president, Michel Temer, of the centrist Brazilian Democratic Movement. Lula attempted to run for president again, but was prevented due to his conviction on corruption charges in 2017 as part of Operation Car Wash and imprisoned in 2018. Right-wing candidate Jair Bolsonaro of the Social Liberal Party was elected president in 2018. Bolsonaro left the Social Liberal Party in 2019 and joined the Liberal Party in 2021.
A series of rulings by the Supreme Federal Court (STF) questioning the legality of Lula's trial led to his release from prison in 2019 and the restoration of his political rights by 2021. Lula narrowly defeated Bolsonaro in the 2022 presidential election, securing a non-consecutive third term. In response to his loss, some Bolsonaro supporters demanded a military coup to prevent Lula's inauguration, but failed to gather sufficient support. Bolsonaro was subsequently convicted by the STF, barred from running for a second term before 2030, and arrested in 2025. He endorsed his eldest son, Senator Flávio Bolsonaro.
Electoral system
Brazil's president and vice president are elected as a joint ticket using the two-round system. The first round of elections is held on the first Sunday of October (in this instance, 4 October 2026). A candidate who receives more than half of the valid votes in the first round is elected.
If this threshold is not met by any candidate, the two candidates with the most votes in the first round advance to a second round of voting, held on the last Sunday of October (in this case, 25 October 2026). The candidate with the most votes in the second round is elected. Elections for governors and vice governors of all 26 states and of the Federal District are held on the same dates and with the same two-round system as the presidential election.
Two-thirds of the 81 members of the Brazilian Senate are up for election in 2026, two senators being elected from each of the states and the Federal District using plurality block voting. The other third of the Senate was elected in 2022.
All 513 members of the Chamber of Deputies (federal deputies) are elected from 27 multi-member constituencies corresponding to the states and the Federal District, varying in size from 8 to 70 seats. All members of the state legislative assemblies (state deputies) and of the Legislative Chamber of the Federal District (district deputies), varying in size from 24 to 94 seats, are also elected. These elections are held using open list, proportional representation, with seats allocated using integer quotients and the D'Hondt method.
All seven members of the District Council of Fernando de Noronha are elected by single non-transferable vote. Unlike elections for other offices in Brazil, candidates for this council are not nominated by political parties.
Voters
Voting in Brazil is allowed for citizens over 16 years of age and mandatory for literate citizens between 18 and 70 years of age, except conscripts, who are not allowed to vote during their period of mandatory military service. Those who are required but do not vote in an election and do not present an acceptable justification, such as being absent from their voting locality at the time, must pay a fine, normally R$3.51, equivalent to about US$0.70 as of 2026. In some cases, the fine may be waived, reduced, or increased by up to 10 times.
Brazilian citizens residing abroad may only vote for president and vice president. Under the Equality Statute between Brazil and Portugal, Portuguese citizens legally residing in Brazil for more than three years may also register to vote in Brazilian elections.
About 158.7 million people were eligible to vote in the 2026 Brazilian elections.
Candidates and political parties
All candidates for federal, state, Federal District, and municipal offices must be nominated by a political party. For offices to be elected by majority or plurality (executive offices and senators), parties may form an electoral coalition (coligação) to nominate a single candidate. The coalitions do not need to be composed of the same parties for every nomination, do not need to be maintained after the election, and are not valid for offices to be elected proportionally (deputies and aldermen).
Parties may also form a different type of alliance called federation (federação), which acts as a single party to nominate candidates for all offices in all locations, including those to be elected proportionally, and must be maintained with a single leadership structure over the course of the elected legislature. Federations may also act as parties to form coalitions. For the 2026 election, the registered federations are Brazil of Hope (PT–PCdoB–PV), Always Forward (PSDB–Cidadania), PSOL REDE Federation (PSOL–REDE), Solidary Renewal (PRD–Solidarity), and Progressive Union (Union–PP).
For offices to be elected proportionally, each party must nominate candidates of each sex in a distribution between 30 and 70%. Parties must also allocate their funds and broadcast time proportionally to the number of their candidates of each sex and race, with a minimum of 30% of funds for Black and Brown candidates.
Procedure
Voting in Brazilian elections can only be done in person and only on election day, which is always a Sunday. There is no provision for postal or early voting. Voter registration must be done in advance, and each voter can only vote in one designated voting station, either based on the voter's registered domicile or at a different location that the voter must specifically request if planning to be there temporarily on election day. Voters must provide photo identification at their voting station before proceeding to vote.
About 95,000 voting stations are installed in all municipalities of Brazil, the Federal District, and Fernando de Noronha. Most voting stations are in public schools. In some sparsely populated areas, such as indigenous territories, the installation and use of voting stations requires extensive travel and logistics. Voting stations are also installed in 164 locations in other countries, mostly in Brazilian diplomatic missions, for citizens residing abroad.
Voting is done almost entirely on direct-recording electronic voting machines, designed for extreme simplicity. The voter dials a number corresponding to the desired candidate or party, causing the name and photo of the candidate or party to appear on the screen, then the voter presses a green button to confirm or an orange button to correct and try again. It is also possible to leave the vote blank by pressing a white button, or to nullify the vote by dialing a number that does not correspond to any candidate or party. Paper ballots are only used in case a voting machine malfunctions or in locations abroad with fewer than 100 voters.
The electronic system is subject to extensive tests, including on machines randomly selected from actual voting stations on election day, witnessed by political parties to rule out fraud. After voting ends, every machine prints a record of its total votes for each candidate or party, which is publicly displayed for comparison with the results published electronically. The system delivers the complete election results usually a few hours after voting ends, which is extremely fast for such a large population as Brazil. However, the system does not create a physical record of individual votes to allow a full recount.
Voting stations operate at the same time in the whole country, regardless of their time zone: 9:00 to 18:00 UTC−02:00, 8:00 to 17:00 UTC−03:00, 7:00 to 16:00 UTC−04:00, and 6:00 to 15:00 UTC−05:00. The unified voting time does not apply to voting stations for citizens abroad, which operate from 8:00 to 17:00 local time, ranging from 16 hours before to 4 hours after those in Brazil.
Administration
Unusual in the world, Brazilian elections are administered by the judiciary. Brazil has one Superior Electoral Court (Tribunal Superior Eleitoral, TSE), and each state and the Federal District have a Regional Electoral Court (Tribunal Regional Eleitoral, TRE), all headed by judges selected from other courts. The electoral courts are responsible for judicial tasks such as ruling on disputes and potential violations of electoral law, and for implementing the elections, such as registering voters and candidates, installing voting machines, counting votes, publishing the results, and issuing regulations and monitoring compliance.
Campaign
Early developments
In late October 2025, President Lula da Silva announced the beginning of his re-election campaign, for his fourth presidential term. Some media sources and opposition figures raised concerns about Lula's age, especially following a fall and brain bleed he suffered in December 2024. Polls at the time from Quaest reported that 38% of respondents made crime their primary concern.
In December 2025, Flávio Bolsonaro, senator of Rio de Janeiro and son of the imprisoned Jair Bolsonaro, announced his intended candidacy. Shortly after his announcement, he suggested dropping out of the campaign in return for favors, saying "There's a possibility I won't go all the way, ... have a price for that. I will negotiate." Many believed this meant that Bolsonaro was saying he would drop out of the election if his father was released from prison. Bolsonaro later retracted this statement saying that after speaking with his father, he would continue with his campaign.
Following the first-round results, the Fluminense Federal University (UFF) was the first university to mobilize students to take to the streets on the day after the election, in a movement that inspired other educational institutions across the country. The first demonstration was organised organically and spontaneously, out of a mixture of "anger and fear". Residents came down from their apartment buildings to join the protest, which drew approximately 2,000 to 3,000 people. In his victory speech, Lula gave special thanks to the students who had mobilised across Brazil.
Lula made efforts to make the Constitutional Amendment to End the 6x1 Work Schedule pass, and in October Flávio, as a senator, made the opposition to vote in favor of it. Bolsonaro once said the proposal was "opportunistic" because it was presented on the eve of the election.
Corruption scandals
Corruption was a top concern for many voters during the campaign, and a wide-ranging scandal involving politicians and STF justices dominated headlines before the first round. Two cases involved figures from both the government and the opposition.
The Banco Master scandal began when the Central Bank ordered the extrajudicial liquidation of Banco Master on 18 November 2025, citing a severe liquidity crisis and serious violations of financial-system rules. The Federal Police's (PF) Operation Compliance Zero investigates alleged fraud, corruption and money laundering linked to the bank. Its former controlling shareholder, Daniel Vorcaro, was arrested in November 2025, and the PF estimates the total fraud at about R$12 billion. Four public figures have been linked to Vorcaro in the investigations. Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, the opposition's presidential candidate, is under Supreme Court investigation over R$61 million that Vorcaro reportedly paid to finance Dark Horse, a film about his father Jair Bolsonaro; he denies wrongdoing and says the money was private sponsorship. A PF report made public on 1 September 2026 recorded messages attributed to Vorcaro and addressed to justice Alexandre de Moraes, and a R$131 million contract between the bank and the law firm of Moraes's wife; Moraes denies wrongdoing. As of October 2026, the Court had not decided whether to open an investigation into him. Senator Ciro Nogueira, who served as Chief of Staff (Casa Civil) under Jair Bolsonaro, was a target of a search warrant on 7 May 2026 after the PF told the Supreme Court he had received undue advantages from Vorcaro; his defense says he took no part in illicit activities. Senator Jaques Wagner, then the Lula government's leader in the Senate, was a target of the operation's ninth phase on 18 June 2026, and left the leadership post on 24 June; he denied wrongdoing.
The INSS fraud scandal involves unauthorized deductions from the benefits of retirees and pensioners by associations and unions; the PF and the comptroller general estimate that about R$6.3 billion was deducted between 2019 and 2024. Investigators also suspect that INSS employees were paid bribes to supply beneficiaries' data. The case reached the president's circle through the lobbyist Antônio Carlos Camilo Antunes, known as "Careca do INSS", whom the PF identifies as one of the scheme's main operators. Since late July 2026 the Supreme Court has authorized three PF inquiries into president Lula's eldest son, Fábio Luís Lula da Silva (Lulinha), for alleged influence peddling and corruption on behalf of companies dealing with the federal government, including a medical-cannabis firm linked to Antunes. The third inquiry, authorized by justice Flávio Dino, also targets Marco Aurélio Santana Ribeiro, known as "Marcola", who headed Lula's private office (chefe de gabinete) until 21 July. Lulinha is mentioned in the INSS inquiry itself but is not formally investigated there; he denies irregularities and says he did not know of the INSS scheme. Marcola says a R$220,000 payment from the businesswoman Roberta Luchsinger, who is also under investigation, was a loan that has been repaid, with nothing offered in return.
Institutional crisis at the Supreme Federal Court
On 1 September 2026, justice André Mendonça lifted the confidentiality of a 218-page PF report, produced at his request from the phone of former banker Daniel Vorcaro. The disclosure triggered an institutional crisis at the STF. The report lists messages that the PF attributes to Vorcaro and addressed to justice Alexandre de Moraes, including on 17 November 2025, the day Vorcaro was arrested; it does not include most of the replies attributed to Moraes. It also describes a contract of about R$131 million between Banco Master and the law firm of Moraes's wife, Viviane Barci de Moraes, and does not conclude that Moraes committed a crime. Moraes denied favoring Vorcaro and disputed the authenticity of the messages and the report's chain of custody. The report also mentions prosecutor general Paulo Gonet, citing messages in which the lawyer Ciro Soares appears as an intermediary between him and Vorcaro; Gonet said he had met Vorcaro only once, briefly.
On 3 September, in a decision issued within the Fake News Inquiry, Moraes cited PF intelligence reports to suspect Mendonça of abuse of authority, administrative improbity and crime of responsibility in his handling of the Master and INSS investigations, and asked the court's president, Edson Fachin, to open proceedings against him. On 8 September, Mendonça ordered the preventive removal of the PF's director-general, Andrei Rodrigues, and its intelligence director, Leandro Almada da Costa, alleging that the PF had illegally monitored his work. The next day, 9 September, justice Flávio Dino ordered both officials reinstated. Fachin then suspended the decisions of both Mendonça and Dino, citing the conflicts and procedural overlaps created by the successive rulings, and revoked Moraes's designation as rapporteur of the Fake News Inquiry, taking charge of it himself while preserving the acts already performed. He also moved Moraes's request against Mendonça out of that inquiry into a procedure under the court's presidency, suspended the proceeding on the Vorcaro–Moraes report, and convened an extraordinary plenary session for 15 September to examine, among other points, the legality of Mendonça's order that deepened the analysis of Vorcaro's phone, the validity of the evidence obtained, and the Public Prosecutor's Office's request to annul the procedure.
On 15 September, the plenary met to examine the petition (PET 16662) on whether to open an investigation into Moraes. Justice Nunes Marques declared himself impeded, citing his presidency of the Superior Electoral Court, and justice Dias Toffoli declared himself suspect for reasons of personal conscience (foro íntimo). The court did not reach the merits. It first took up a point of order by justice Gilmar Mendes to merge PET 16662 with PET 16704, which concerns Moraes's request against Mendonça. Fachin, Mendonça, Luiz Fux and Cármen Lúcia voted to keep the cases separate; Gilmar Mendes, Cristiano Zanin and Moraes voted to merge them. Dino also spoke in favor of merging but then requested more time to review the case (pedido de vista) and asked that his position not be counted, leaving a provisional result of 4–3. Dino has up to 90 days to return the case, which would take the resumption to December. On 17 September, Fachin removed PET 16704 from the agenda of the 23 September session, stating that it would be rescheduled at a later date.
Concerns about United States interference
United States president Donald Trump showed interest in Brazil's elections, and there were concerns that his administration might interfere in favor of Bolsonaro. Members of the United States Senate issued a joint letter to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio saying that his administration was using pressure tactics that could harm Brazil's democracy, and highlighting Darren Beattie's controversial role in the Department of State. They urged the administration to promise to accept the results of the elections in Brazil. Bolsonaro chose to not ask Trump for his endorsement.
Jorge Messias, Lula's attorney general who was unsuccessfully nominated for the STF in 2025, accused the United States of interfering against the Brazilian Supreme Court in a post on X.
In March 2026, through an edict, the TSE contracted to Hughes Telecommunications of Brazil, which would use satellite terminals with the infrastructure of Starlink, which belongs to Elon Musk, to ensure the sending of results from remote areas that do not have conventional data transition infrastructure. This caused controversy due to Musk's ties to the Trump administration, and concerns about data sovereignty.
In October 2026, Intercept Brasil reported that Flavio allegedly paid $600,000 to a US company in order to manipulate the elections.
On 2 October, two days before the first round, foreign embassies in Brazil issued security alerts and advised their citizens in the country to exercise caution. The United States suspended in-person services at its embassy in Brasília and at consulates in the country, citing security concerns but without specifying the alleged threats; in 2022, it had issued a security alert, but the embassy had remained open. The order came from the State Department, headed by Marco Rubio. Following the United States's action, the PF and the Brazilian Intelligence Agency (ABIN) warned of a psychological operation (PSYOP) coordinated by the White House in collusion with Flávio Bolsonaro's campaign, which aimed at a new attempted coup d'état by generating a climate of permanent tension until the first round. This information was obtained by Fórum and confirmed by a "prominent ambassador" in the government. A PF source stated the attempted coup then underway was intended to intervene in the election in favour of a candidate, generating fear and causing people to vote for Bolsonaro or simply not to vote. This "hybrid warfare" would include the participation of big tech companies and was internally referred to by the Brazilian Intelligence System (SISBIN) as Operation Brother Sam II, in reference to the operation related to the 1964 military coup. Intelligence agencies believed the Trump administration's decision, through Marco Rubio, may have been carried out through Eduardo Bolsonaro's intervention. Former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) employee John Kiriakou stated the spy agency was "potentially intervening" in Brazil's elections in favor of Bolsonaro, declaring there is "credible evidence" of this.
Following the defeat of his ally Flávio Bolsonaro, Donald Trump stated, without presenting any indication or evidence, that the election in Brazil "looked like a rigged election"; when asked whether he would do anything about it, Trump said that he "does not govern Brazil" and that he likes president Lula da Silva. Re-elected vice president Geraldo Alckmin criticised Trump's statement, calling it misguided. The United States government had postponed the release of an official statement on the result after Bolsonaro questioned Lula's victory and called for the election to be annulled; the statement had already been prepared and congratulated Brazilians on holding the election. According to international relations researcher Ricardo Leães, Lula's victory blocks Trump's plans in Latin America to "dominate the entire subcontinent and appropriate all the resources".
Presidential debates
Debates broadcast on television or radio were legally required to invite all candidates whose parties or coalitions had at least five members in the National Congress based on the previous election. Lula, Bolsonaro, Caiado and Cury satisfied this criterion. Debate organizers could also choose to invite additional candidates. Shortly before the last debate for the first round, judges granted injunctions ordering the debate organizers to also invite Zema and Santos.
14 September: The debate in Osasco was canceled due to the fact that Lula and Bolsonaro had not confirmed their attendance by the 7 September deadline. The debate in São Paulo was canceled because all the candidates, except Renan Santos, either failed to confirm or canceled their participation.
27 September: The debate was canceled due to the fact that Lula and Bolsonaro had not confirmed their attendance.
1 October: Initially, the candidates whose participation is required by law were invited: Lula, Bolsonaro, Ronaldo Caiado and Augusto Cury. On 29 September, the president of the Superior Electoral Court, Justice Nunes Marques, ruled that Romeu Zema's participation should also be guaranteed, since his party currently holds five seats in the Chamber of Deputies. The next day, 30 September, Lula confirmed he would not take part in the debate. On 1 October, just hours before the debate, TSE Justice Estela Aranha suspended a rule agreed upon by all campaigns, under which an absent candidate would be represented by an empty podium, and the other candidates could direct questions to it. Moments later, Bolsonaro withdrew from the debate, citing "censorship imposed by the TSE". Shortly afterward, STF Justice Gilmar Mendes granted an injunction guaranteeing Renan Santos's participation in the debate. Following this series of court rulings, Globo decided to cancel the debate less than an hour before it was due to begin.
11 October: The debate was canceled due to scheduling conflicts on the part of both candidates.
15 October: The debate was canceled due to scheduling conflicts on the part of both candidates. Instead, Lula and Bolsonaro took part in Globo's candidate interviews on 15 and 16 October, respectively.
18 October: The first debate between the final two contenders was described as "chaotic" and characterized by personal attacks; for instance, Bolsonaro declined to stand closer to Lula out of fear that "his wallet would be stolen". At one point during the debate, Lula questioned Bolsonaro about why he had opposed the arrest of Bruno Dias Delaroli, who shot and killed 5-year-old Ana Clara Machado in 2021. Bolsonaro ignored the question and taunted Lula by asking him, without clarifying the source of the figures, why 73% of prisoners had supposedly voted for him. Lula replied, "I want 100% to vote for me. Even your father"; BBC considered this one of the most tense moments of the debate. In another notable incident, Bolsonaro wrote the word corrupto ("corrupt") on the palm of his hand to point out that it contained the letters "PT"; however, the quip backfired, with Lula supporters deliberately misinterpreting the gesture as a confession rather than an accusation.
23 October: During the debate on Globo, Bolsonaro mocked the fact Lula had lost a finger in a workplace accident at the age of 17. Lula demanded Bolsonaro apologise for the remark, stating that "I will not take home" that "great piece of nonsense", since his opponent "has never worked a day in his life". According to qualitative research conducted by Lula's campaign, the president's response was his best moment during the debate, generating negative repercussions for Bolsonaro and helping to highlight Lula's personal background. Writing for Folha de S.Paulo, Jairo Marques stated Bolsonaro's remark provoked indignation over prejudice against people with disabilities, and linked the episode to images of elderly people being assisted in reaching their polling stations, although he acknowledged he could not assert it had had a significant numerical effect. Comedian Antonio Tabet later revealed he had participated in Lula's re-election campaign, helping to write the president's response; this was confirmed by André Janones.
Congress
The results of the previous general elections and the current composition of the National Congress are given below. The party composition changed during the course of the legislature due to replacements of members, changes in their party affiliation, and mergers of parties. In 2026, all members of the Chamber of Deputies and two thirds of the Senate (two senators from each state and the Federal District) will be up for election.
Aftermath
Reactions
At 9:08 p.m. (UTC−03:00) on election day, the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) confirmed Lula da Silva's victory, when 97% of the ballot boxes had been counted. He became the first person to be elected president of Brazil four times and the first to win a presidential election in a runoff after placing second in the first round.
A victory by Lula had been seen as unlikely following the first round results, and commentators had fit a potential Bolsonaro victory into a wider trend across Latin America in which voters had "punished [left-wing] incumbents and turned to the right", as exemplified by recent elections in Argentina in 2023, Chile in 2025, and Colombia in 2026. In explaining Lula's victory, political observers noted the result in Minas Gerais, a state which has been a bellwether in every presidential election since 1989, where Lula trailed by 6 points in the first round but won by 1 point in the runoff. The turnout also increased from about 79% in the first round to about 81% in the runoff, which analysts said was favorable to Lula; both Lula and Bolsonaro focused their runoff campaigns on mobilizing their supporters to turn out, especially with digital advertisements. O Globo highlighted the role of politician André Janones who created the WhatsApp channel Exército do Lula (lit. "Lula's Army"), which amassed over 10 million followers and became Brazil's second biggest WhatsApp channel, most of whom joined between the first round and the runoff. According to the newspaper Metrópoles, Janones is the most significant political leader to have emerged from the last two presidential elections in Brazil, and Lula would not have secured his fourth term without his "decisive" role in the campaign. The day after Lula's victory, Janones was invited to help Pedro Sánchez in the Spanish elections.
Bolsonaro refused to concede the election, saying he felt that "it is impossible to recognize the election result given how these events unfolded", referring to a decision by STF justice Cristiano Zanin to postpone poll closing from 17:00 to 19:00. Both campaigns had requested for voting hours to be extended in specific areas; Lula's campaign pointed to shortages of public buses and other transportation problems in São Paulo as well as throughout the Northeast Region, while Bolsonaro's campaign pointed to heavy rains and flooding in the south. The orders to extend came in at around 5PM, when many polling stations in Brasilia had already closed. Bolsonaro cited the decision to extend voting hours as his reason to not accept the result of the election, saying his campaign would legally challenge the results.
In announcing the results, TSE president Nunes Marques, who had been appointed by Jair Bolsonaro, said that the extension of voting hours did not impact the result of the election. Analysts noted that an annulment of the election was unlikely, and that Flávio Bolsonaro's refusal to accept the result of the election echoed that of Jair Bolsonaro in the 2022 election.
Flávio Bolsonaro flees to the United States
The day after his defeat, Flávio Bolsonaro was summoned by the PF to surrender his passport, pursuant to an order issued by STF justice Alexandre de Moraes. Moraes based his decision on a statement by Flávio's brother, Eduardo Bolsonaro, who said that in the event of defeat Flávio should leave Brazil. He was also prohibited from having contact with Willer Tomaz, who like him was under investigation for money laundering in a scheme that allegedly involved online gambling companies. Earlier that day, at least three federal deputies—Duda Salabert, Otoni de Paula and Rogério Correia—had requested the seizure of the senator's passports, noting he would lose his immunity at the end of the year and was the subject of three investigations on suspicion of, among other offenses, corruption and foreign exchange evasion. Moraes's decision to cancel Bolsonaro's passports was privately criticized by fellow STF justices and members of Lula's government; according to them, Moraes had made a political mistake and thrown "gasoline on a fire" and that it would have been better to let Bolsonaro flee, if that was indeed his plan, to make it clear he was evading Brazilian justice, without being able to claim he was a "victim of political persecution".
On 27 October, Infobae reported that Bolsonaro had allegedly fled Brazil the previous night, heading for Argentina, from where he would continue his journey to the United States. He had reportedly crossed the border using his national identity document and was to board a Gulfstream G400 registered as LV-JQW, operated by the company Baires Fly, in Puerto Iguazú. Bolsonaro had earlier stated he had "never thought about leaving the country". Flávio Bolsonaro's getaway private jet belonged to a company used by Argentine president Javier Milei. Following the news of the alleged flight, the PF contacted Argentine authorities, who did not provide precise information about Bolsonaro's entry into Argentina; furthermore, he had been prohibited from leaving Brazil. Brazilian newspapers Metrópoles, Folha de S.Paulo, channel CNN Brasil and British agency Reuters informed that close relatives and allies confirmed his defection from the country on his way to Miami, Florida.
On 28 October, Bolsonaro landed at Miami–Opa Locka Executive Airport. He and his family are expected to receive visas from the State Department. After arriving in the US, Bolsonaro published a statement on his X account declaring himself "president-elect" of Brazil. The statement featured an older Brazilian coat of arms (used between 1889–1930), which described the country as "Estados Unidos do Brazil" (Portuguese for United States of Brazil). He later deleted the post and republished it with his title changed to "leader" and the current coat of arms instead of the older one. According to influencer Paulo Figueiredo, the incorrect coat of arms and Bolsonaro's self-proclamation were caused by ChatGPT's artificial intelligence.
See also
Bolsonarism
Lulism
List of elections in 2026
