World news 860K views since yesterday

Flávio Bolsonaro's reported departure divides allies over opposition's next move

The broadcast reports a request for his arrest and allies' accounts of advance US support for political asylum, without confirming that asylum has been granted.

Channel: CNN Brasil ·

BrazilStory of October 28, 2026Trari Newsroom

Why this story? One of CNN Brasil's most watched videos since yesterday, with 860,063 views.

CNN Brasil: A Brazilian news channel on air since 2020 under a CNN licence. 7.2M subscribers and 6B views.

FUGA DE FLÁVIO - ALIADOS E AUTORIDADE AMERICANA AFIRMAM QUE SENADOR ESTÁ A CAMINHO DOS EUA | CNN 360

Things we can learn from the video

Press to jump

0:27Presenters report a court travel ban and cite a US official confirming Flávio's journey to Reuters.
8:17Workers' Party lawmakers request preventive detention and an Interpol red notice, according to Pedro Venceslau.
17:57Edilene Lopes describes allies divided between defending Flávio and embarrassment over his reported departure.
24:24Minister José Guimarães criticizes the reported departure as weakness and disrespect toward voters.
40:47Guimarães discusses congressional leadership and says the next finance minister must balance fiscal and social responsibility.
50:18Caio Junqueira cites allies saying Trump's administration signaled support for asylum; no grant is confirmed.

Some allies are defending Flávio Bolsonaro as politically persecuted. Others consider his reported departure for the United States unacceptable and are asking who will lead the opposition after his presidential election defeat.

That division runs through Brazil's CNN Brasil broadcast of CNN 360°, which reports that the senator left Brasília overnight despite a Supreme Federal Court order to surrender his passports and remain in the country. Presenters Débora Bergamasco and Yuri Pita cite an American official's confirmation to Reuters that he was traveling to the United States.

Flávio, a senator representing Rio de Janeiro and a son of former president Jair Bolsonaro, belongs to the Liberal Party, known as the PL. Reporter Guilherme Rajão describes surprise and disorientation among party lawmakers, with close allies comparing his departure to a ship losing its captain.

The report also carries a more defensive response. Bergamasco recounts a conversation with the PL's leader in the lower house, Sóstenes Cavalcante, who says any decision Flávio made must be understood in the context of what he describes as persecution by Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes. Analyst Edilene Lopes distinguishes that position from the embarrassment felt by other allies over the appearance of flight.

The legal response is a separate development. Political analyst Pedro Venceslau reports that lawmakers from President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's Workers' Party have asked the Supreme Court for preventive detention and an Interpol red notice. Those are requests, not decisions announced in the broadcast. Matheus Teixeira also reports criticism within the court of the Federal Police's handling of the departure and says two investigations involving Flávio remain before the court.

In a live interview with Gustavo Uribe, Institutional Relations Minister José Guimarães calls the reported departure a sign of weakness and disrespect toward voters. Turning to Lula's election victory, he advocates a broad governing alliance, discusses Workers' Party support for congressional leaders Davi Alcolumbre and Hugo Motta, and says the next finance minister should balance fiscal and social responsibility.

Later, reporter Caio Junqueira says Flávio's allies describe advance coordination with Donald Trump's administration and signals that political asylum would be available. The broadcast does not establish that asylum has been granted. Its closing political discussion returns to the PL's leadership options, including Tarcísio de Freitas and Rogério Marinho, as the party weighs an institutional defense of Flávio against the need for an opposition leader.