Updated on: October 28, 2026 / 4:57 PM EDT / CBS/AP

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Brazilian Senator Flávio Bolsonaro and his family left the country on Tuesday after he lost Brazil's hotly contested presidential election over the weekend, and landed in Miami Wednesday morning.

Earlier, a senior State Department official told CBS News that Bolsonaro and his family would receive U.S. visas.

Bolsonaro, an ally of President Trump, departed Brazil for the U.S. days after being defeated by incumbent President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in Sunday's election. En route to the U.S., Bolsonaro, his wife and two daughters first arrived in Argentina and then took a private plane to Guayaquil, Ecuador, according to Argentinian officials and flight tracking data.

In a letter to the Brazilian people posted on X , Bolsonaro called the election results illegitimate and accused the government of targeting him for persecution.

"Facing the political weaponization of Justice in Brazil, I decided to move with my family to the United…