Lula attacks Flávio Bolsonaro after departure for U.S., accusing him of fleeing scrutiny after election defeat

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva attacked defeated rival Flávio Bolsonaro on Tuesday after the senator left Brazil for the United States despite a Supreme Court order requiring him to surrender his passports.

“I am just finding out now that my opponent has left the country,” Lula said during an event at the presidential residence in Brasília. He contrasted Bolsonaro’s departure with his own past election defeats, saying he twice lost to Fernando Henrique Cardoso but remained in Brazil.

Reuters reported that Bolsonaro had left for the United States after missing the deadline to hand over his ordinary and diplomatic passports. The order was issued by Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes as part of a money-laundering investigation that Bolsonaro denies. Federal Police subsequently canceled the passports, and authorities said he had not departed through a regular Brazilian migration checkpoint.

Lula said Bolsonaro should have stayed and tried to clear his name. He also accused the Bolsonaro family of putting loyalty to the United States ahead of Brazil, saying: “For the Bolsonaro family, Brazil is their second homeland. Their first homeland is licking boots in the United States.”

Bolsonaro lost Sunday’s presidential runoff to Lula, receiving 48.21% of valid votes against Lula’s 51.79%. He initially challenged the result and sought Lula’s disqualification, while his Liberal Party later acknowledged Lula’s victory.

Lula also accused Meta, sections of Brazil’s financial system and the U.S. government of working against his reelection campaign. His campaign had previously accused Meta of favoring Bolsonaro after problems affecting political advertising and content distribution. Meta denied deliberately interfering and said the incidents resulted from technical problems.

Separate Reuters reporting before the runoff found that two U.S. State Department officials had pushed sanctions designed to help return the Bolsonaro political movement to power, according to current and former U.S. officials.

“When they asked me to surrender my passport, I surrendered my passport,” Lula said, arguing that Bolsonaro should have done the same after authorities expressed concern that he might leave the country.