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The flight of Brazilian senator Flávio Bolsonaro, who was defeated in last Sunday's presidential elections, to the United States after passing through Argentina, was mired in controversy due to alleged aid from Javier Milei's government and claims of the Argentine president's own involvement in coordinating the operation.
During the day on Tuesday, Argentine media anticipated Bolsonaro's possible escape through the country, to which immigration authorities responded that there were no records of Bolsonaro entering Argentina.
Presidential spokesperson Adrián Ravier merely stated in a press conference that Argentina had not received any asylum request from the Brazilian senator. Milei chose to remain silent.
On Tuesday night, Mexican lawyer Simón Levy, who is close to the Bolsonaro family, claimed in an interview with the Argentine channel A24 that the Argentine president was involved in and aware of the arrangements to coordinate the Brazilian's departure to the United States.
"Thanks to President Milei, Flávio Bolsonaro is alive today," said Levy, who added: "The only one who was aware of this is President Milei. He has been and was part of the coordination of this whole operation."
The newspaper La Nación reported that presidential advisor Santiago Caputo was in the province of Misiones, which borders Brazil, on Tuesday night when the aircraft carrying Bolsonaro took off, which—in the view of the Argentine media—is a piece of data that would confirm that the Argentine government actively collaborated with the operation that made his departure possible.
According to Argentina's National Migration Office, early this Wednesday, Flávio Bolsonaro, his wife, Fernanda Antunes Figueira, and their two daughters entered the country on Tuesday at 10:50 PM local time (1:50 GMT Wednesday) via the Tancredo Neves International Bridge in the province of Misiones.
Bolsonaro did so with his Italian passport, while his relatives used their usual documentation, as confirmed in the flight plan published by the Argentine press.
Officials from the Migration Office told EFE that no legal irregularities were committed: "We cannot prevent him from entering the country with his European passport."
Forty minutes later, at 11:30 PM local time (2:30 GMT Wednesday), they boarded a private plane from the company Baires Fly S.A. at the Puerto Iguazú airport, bound for Guayaquil (Ecuador), from where they headed to Miami (United States).
So far, neither Milei nor his ministers and collaborators have made public statements regarding the operation that allowed Bolsonaro to escape.
In a context of confrontation between Milei and the winner of Sunday's elections in Brazil, progressive candidate Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the Argentine government confirmed on Tuesday that it will not issue an official statement to congratulate the re-elected president.
The far-right Bolsonaro's departure occurred after Supreme Federal Court judge Alexandre de Moraes ordered him to surrender his passports and prohibited him from leaving Brazil, as part of money laundering investigations.
All opposition parties to Milei in the Argentine Congress have demanded explanations regarding what the government's role might have been in the operation.
[Publicidad]