Argentine media reported that the Brazilian Foreign Ministry summoned the Argentine charge d’affaires to determine what role, if any, officials from the Milei administration played in the Brazilian senator’s clandestine departure for Miami.

Bolsonaro, who faces five corruption charges in his home country, was under a court-ordered travel ban. Nevertheless, he crossed the border into the Argentine province of Misiones with his family in a van bearing Argentine diplomatic license plates; from there, he boarded a private plane in Puerto Iguazu bound for Miami.

According to *Clarin* newspaper, Bolsonaro was assisted in Puerto Iguazu by Santiago Caputo—a presidential advisor to Milei who oversees the State Intelligence Secretariat (SIDE).

The report adds that Caputo personally met with the fugitive and accompanied him to the steps of the aircraft, which transported him to the United States with a stopover in Guayaquil, Ecuador.

*Clarin* further noted that, in addition to Caputo, agents from the SIDE, the National Migration Directorate, and the Airport Security Police were allegedly involved in facilitating the escape. The administration of Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is now seeking an explanation.

In any case, the Argentine press reports that this incident further strains a bilateral relationship already going through a difficult period. As noted by the newspaper *Pagina 12*, the embassies of both nations have been operating at the level of *charges d’affaires* since August, following Brazil’s decision to downgrade its diplomatic representation in response to various clashes between Milei and Brazilian authorities.

For now, the report adds, Lula intends to keep the matter within diplomatic channels, avoiding a direct confrontation with the Argentine government.

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