Flávio Bolsonaro reached Florida after Brazil banned him from leaving, and the opposition is asking how Italy gave citizenship to the former president’s sons.Flávio Bolsonaro, a Brazilian senator and the son of former president Jair Bolsonaro, has landed in the United States despite a ban on leaving Brazil, and his Italian citizenship has landed with him in the Italian parliament.Bolsonaro lost the presidential runoff on October 25 to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. According to Italian reports, he arrived in Florida with his wife and two daughters on October 27 and met his brother Eduardo. By then a Brazilian Supreme Court judge, Alexandre de Moraes, had ordered his passports handed over, in an investigation reported to involve alleged money laundering linked to betting, and Brazil’s federal police had annulled his ordinary and diplomatic passports. He denies any wrongdoing and says the order was politically motivated. His father, Jair, is under house arrest for an attempted coup. Did He Use the Italian Passport? This is the central question, and the answer is not yet established. Repubblica said he “probably” left using his Italian passport. Il Giornale d’Italia was more cautious, noting that the actual use of the Italian document during the trip remains to be established. The reported route is also uncertain. Italian press says he passed through Argentina and Ecuador, on a private flight, but Argentina’s migration authority said it had no record of his entry and no flight plan including family members. A senior Brazilian federal police official told Reuters that he did not pass any regular immigration checkpoint. Washington has not confirmed how he traveled, and CNN cited a source saying that President Donald Trump approved his entry. A State Department official told Semafor that the US is ready to issue the visas he and his family need, which would mean the Italian passport was not strictly necessary to get in. Lula called the departure shameful, according to Brazilian reports, and the Workers’ Party has asked for his arrest and an Interpol red notice. How He Became Italian His Italian citizenship is documented. Interior Undersecretary Wanda Ferro told the Chamber of Deputies in June 2025, in reply to a question from Angelo Bonelli of the Greens and Left Alliance (AVS), that Flávio and Eduardo Bolsonaro obtained citizenship in 2023 and Carlos in 2024. They began the procedure at the Italian embassy in Brazil, and Flávio and Eduardo started in 2020, on the basis of Italian descent. Ferro said Jair Bolsonaro had not applied as of June 2025. Reports differ on which ancestor was used: one outlet cites a Venetian great-grandfather, another Venetian grandparents. Citizenship by descent also entitles the holder to an Italian passport, which Brazilian court orders cannot cancel. The Political Row AVS leader Angelo Bonelli said he would file a parliamentary question to Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani to learn which procedures were followed in granting citizenship to Flávio, Eduardo and Carlos Bolsonaro. He said the dates of the passports’ issue show an acceleration that raises some doubts, and that Italy must not become a refuge for those fleeing justice. The Democratic Party has also filed questions, according to Il Giornale d’Italia. That outlet adds a caveat: political reservations do not amount to proof of an irregularity, and the available information does not allow us to say whether rules were broken or whether anyone received favorable treatment. Ph: Focus Pix / Shutterstock.com  

Flávio Bolsonaro, a Brazilian senator and the son of former president Jair Bolsonaro, has landed in the United States despite a ban on leaving Brazil, and his Italian citizenship has landed with him in the Italian parliament. Bolsonaro lost the presidential runoff on October 25 to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. According to Italian reports, he arrived in Florida with his wife and two daughters on October 27 and met his brother Eduardo. By then a Brazilian Supreme Court judge, Alexandre de Moraes, had ordered his passports handed over, in an investigation reported to involve alleged money laundering linked to betting, and Brazil’s federal police had annulled his ordinary and diplomatic passports. He denies any wrongdoing and says the order was politically motivated. His father, Jair, is under house arrest for an attempted coup. This is the central question, and the answer is not yet established. Repubblica said he “probably” left using his Italian passport. Il Giornale d’Italia was more cautious, noting that the actual use of the Italian document during the trip remains to be established. The reported route is also uncertain. Italian press says he passed through Argentina and Ecuador, on a private flight, but Argentina’s migration authority said it had no record of his entry and no flight plan including family members. A senior Brazilian federal police official told Reuters that he did not pass any regular immigration checkpoint. Washington has not confirmed how he traveled, and CNN cited a source saying that President Donald Trump approved his entry. A State Department official told Semafor that the US is ready to issue the visas he and his family need, which would mean the Italian passport was not strictly necessary to get in. Lula called the departure shameful, according to Brazilian reports, and the Workers’ Party has asked for his arrest and an Interpol red notice. His Italian citizenship is documented. Interior Undersecretary Wanda Ferro told the Chamber of Deputies in June 2025, in reply to a question from Angelo Bonelli of the Greens and Left Alliance (AVS), that Flávio and Eduardo Bolsonaro obtained citizenship in 2023 and Carlos in 2024. They began the procedure at the Italian embassy in Brazil, and Flávio and Eduardo started in 2020, on the basis of Italian descent. Ferro said Jair Bolsonaro had not applied as of June 2025. Reports differ on which ancestor was used: one outlet cites a Venetian great-grandfather, another Venetian grandparents. Citizenship by descent also entitles the holder to an Italian passport, which Brazilian court orders cannot cancel. AVS leader Angelo Bonelli said he would file a parliamentary question to Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani to learn which procedures were followed in granting citizenship to Flávio, Eduardo and Carlos Bolsonaro. He said the dates of the passports’ issue show an acceleration that raises some doubts, and that Italy must not become a refuge for those fleeing justice. The Democratic Party has also filed questions, according to Il Giornale d’Italia. That outlet adds a caveat: political reservations do not amount to proof of an irregularity, and the available information does not allow us to say whether rules were broken or whether anyone received favorable treatment. Ph: Focus Pix / Shutterstock.com