The U.S. Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, dismissed this Saturday that Washington had organized or coordinated Flávio Bolsonaro's departure from Brazil, although he confirmed that President Donald Trump authorized his entry into the country when the senator arrived at a port of entry.
Rubio made the statements during a press conference on the sidelines of the G20 foreign ministers' meeting held in Atlanta, Georgia. "We did not participate in any of the preparations he made to leave," stated the head of U.S. diplomacy.
The Secretary of State specified that Bolsonaro "already had a visa" and that Trump "made the decision to allow him to enter the country" through a temporary permit.
However, he was emphatic in drawing a line between that authorization and any involvement in the logistics of the transfer: "At least the U.S. government did not participate directly in any of the movements that took place."
The escape of Bolsonaro occurred days after he lost the presidential runoff on October 25 to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who received 51.79% of the votes—approximately 64.2 million—against 48.21% for the Liberal Party candidate.
The magistrate Alexandre de Moraes of the Supreme Federal Court of Brazil had ordered the surrender of Bolsonaro's passports and prohibited him from leaving Brazilian territory as part of an investigation for alleged money laundering.
Despite that restriction, the senator crossed into Argentina by land on October 27 via the Tancredo Neves International Bridge in Misiones, accompanied by his wife Fernanda and their two daughters.
From Argentina, the family boarded a private flight from Puerto Iguazú with a stopover in Guayaquil, Ecuador, before landing at the executive airport of Opa-locka in Miami. The Federal Police of Brazil stated that there is no official record of the legislator's departure.
The incident sparked a regional diplomatic crisis. Brazil summoned the Argentine charge d'affaires, María Emilia Cortés, to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to seek explanations regarding a possible involvement of officials from Javier Milei’s government in the transfer.
The Argentine Chief of Cabinet, Diego Santilli, responded that Bolsonaro entered the country without international alerts or restrictions in the migratory systems.
In Washington, 25 Democratic congressmen sent a letter to Rubio with 15 questions regarding visa issuance, coordination among agencies, and potential logistical support for the Brazilian politician.
From Miami, Bolsonaro reappeared in a twenty-minute Instagram livestream to denounce political persecution and question the results of the runoff election.
He expressed gratitude for the nearly 60 million votes received and announced his intention to compete for the presidency again before 2030. "There were several goals scored by hand that my opponent made that were not disallowed by VAR. He played completely outside the rules of the electoral law," he stated.
Rubio, for his part, avoided commenting on those accusations and focused his message on distancing Washington from any responsibility in the operation. According to the AP news agency, Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira and Rubio agreed in Atlanta to meet before the G20 leaders' summit scheduled in Miami for December 2026, which could become the first formal bilateral meeting to address the tension generated by the case.
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