An Argentine lawmaker has filed a criminal complaint seeking an investigation into how Brazilian senator Flávio Bolsonaro entered Argentina and flew to the United States despite a judicial order prohibiting him from leaving Brazil. The complaint, lodged by Marcela Pagano before the Federal Court in Puerto Iguazú, in Misiones province, asks whether officials in President Javier Milei’s administration facilitated the journey.
Bolsonaro, the son of former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, faces criminal cases in Brazil involving alleged corruption and money laundering. Supreme Federal Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes had barred him from leaving the country. According to the account presented in the complaint, the senator crossed into Argentina with members of his family before boarding a private aircraft bound for the United States.
Pagano said the investigation should establish who arranged Bolsonaro’s passage through Argentine territory and whether government officials assisted him. “The justice system has to establish who organised Bolsonaro’s passage through our territory towards the US and whether Argentine officials facilitated it. A government cannot become the escape route for someone who is barred from leaving his country by court order,” she said.
The chronology detailed in the filing places Bolsonaro and his family at the Tancredo Neves international border crossing between Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil, and Puerto Iguazú at 10.50pm local time on Tuesday, 27 October. Forty minutes later, they reportedly boarded a private Gulfstream G400 jet at Iguazú International Airport. The aircraft belongs to Baires Fly, an aviation company, and had been positioned at the airport since Monday.
According to the flight information cited in the complaint, the aircraft travelled through the airspace of Paraguay, Bolivia and Peru before making a technical stop in Guayaquil, Ecuador. It subsequently landed in Miami on Wednesday, having avoided Brazilian airspace throughout the journey.
Pagano also highlighted the reported presence of an Airport Security Police patrol car escorting Bolsonaro to the air terminal. The force answers to Argentina’s Security Ministry, which operates under the federal executive. The complaint seeks to establish what role, if any, officials played in facilitating the senator’s departure.
The Argentine government’s account of the journey is another focus of the filing. The National Directorate of Migration initially denied on Tuesday that Bolsonaro was in Argentina or had flight plans. The government subsequently acknowledged his passage at 2am on Wednesday, when the aircraft was already airborne.
A statement from the migration authority said Bolsonaro, Fernanda Antunes Figueira Bolsonaro, Carolina Figueira Bolsonaro and Luiza Figueira Bolsonaro entered Argentina at 10.50pm on 27 October through the Tancredo Neves International Bridge. It said they presented valid travel documents, faced no legal impediment to entering Argentina and passed through immigration controls without incident.
The statement added that, at 11.30pm, the group boarded a private flight operated by Baires Fly SA bound for Guayaquil, Ecuador, as specified in the flight plan.
The complaint also seeks clarification about the presence in Misiones of Santiago Caputo, a political strategist and chief adviser to Milei. Caputo reportedly arrived in the province earlier in the week aboard the same private aircraft.
Pagano’s filing requests an investigation into alleged human trafficking, facilitation of illegal stay, abuse of authority, violation of the duties of public officials and cover-up. It also calls for urgent measures to preserve evidence, including surveillance footage from the international border crossing, aviation records and Airport Security Police duty logs.
The matter has also reached Argentina’s legislature. Agustín Rossi, a congressman and former defence minister, formally requested that Chief of Cabinet Diego Santilli appear before Parliament to answer questions about the episode.
