Defeated presidential candidate Flavio Bolsonaro departs Brazil for US

Brazil's defeated presidential candidate Flavio Bolsonaro has fled Brazil for the United States although the court ordered the seizure of his passports and barred him from leaving. Re-elected President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said he regretted that Bolsonaro left Brazil and criticised his departure as "shameful."

Bolsonaro's entry into the US was permitted by US President Donald Trump.

Flavio Bolsonaro, the eldest son of Brazil's imprisoned former president Jair Bolsonaro, lost to President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in Sunday's presidential runoff which he was widely expected to win.

His Liberal Party has formally conceded defeat.

The right-wing senator dropped his bid to annul the election result but shifted focus, indicating he would pursue legal action against Lula's campaign over political and economic power abuse.

Authorities say his passports were cancelled on Tuesday as he missed the 24-hour deadline ordered by the Supreme Court to hand them over to police as part of a criminal investigation into alleged money laundering by Bolsonaro, which he denies.

The court ordered to open a separate probe into possible illegal foreign funding.

Argentina's Migration Department reports Bolsonaro and his family briefly entered the Argentine province of Misiones through a road crossing "with valid travel documentation and without any legal impediment" on Tuesday night, before they boarded a private flight bound for Ecuador's Guayaquil.

A senior US State Department official says the department is due to grant him and his family entry visas.

US President Donald Trump told reporters upon his return from a rally in Texas on Wednesday he had heard Bolsonaro was in Argentina and would approve of him coming to the United States.

"Well, I would approve of him coming...it would be okay with me. I think it's so terrible to see it. I didn't take sides, you know. I know them both. I know Lula. I know Flavio a little bit. I know the father very well," Trump said.

Meanwhile, Lula celebrated his 81st birthday with a couple of supporters at an event in Brasilia on Tuesday. He said he didn't know Bolsonaro's exact whereabouts but confirmed he had left Brazil.

He said "I find myself wondering what kind of guilt weighs on the conscience of a citizen who has just lost an election and flees his own country."

Lula pointed out instead of sneaking out of Brazil, Bolsonaro should have stayed and faced the allegations surrounding him in court.

Lula told supporters who gathered outside the Alvorada Palace, the presidential residence, that he thinks Brazil is the "second homeland" of the Bolsonaro family and their "true homeland is licking American boots."