Without a mandate in , he has used the political influence he gained after years of building alliances on the international right to try to boost the candidacy of his brother, the senator (-RJ).
On a trip to , the two have already registered , including prime ministers, presidents, ministers and parliamentarians.
At first, Flávio informed him that he would leave Brazil on an official mission from January 18th to February 7th and would pay for the trip with public money. Afterwards, the senator postponed his return for another five days and stated that he would pay his expenses with his own resources.
The brothers have already visited and plan to go to the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. They are still considering traveling around Europe, but the countries have not yet been defined. At the beginning of January, Flávio Bolsonaro also went to , where his brother has lived since March 2025.
Even though he was, Eduardo Bolsonaro continues to be presented as a parliamentarian at events, such as the International Conference to Combat Anti-Semitism, held in Jerusalem.
Without a mandate and after suffering recent defeats in the relationship with , who after dialogue with him reduced the impact of tariffs and revoked the application of Eduardo Bolsonaro is now focusing on introducing his brother to international right-wing leaders with a focus on his pre-candidacy for the Planalto.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I speak today not only as a senator, but as a pre-candidate for president of Brazil”, said Flávio in , last Tuesday (27).
He also said that the United States helped to “build a new model of international cooperation” and a new phase for Latin America.
In Israel, the brothers met Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu; the president, Isaac Herzog; and the Minister for Combating Anti-Semitism, Amichai Chikli, with whom they recorded a video in which Eduardo calls members of Hamas “savages”.
The two also met with other authorities, such as former Austrian Prime Minister Sebastian Kurz, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama and Argentine Ambassador Axel Wahnish. The photo they posted with the ambassador was shared by the president of Argentina, Javier Milei.
The brothers also published photos with at least six members of the European Parliament, such as the Spaniards Hermann Tertsch and Jorge Buxadé, from the Vox party, the Portuguese Pedro Frazão, vice-president of Chega, and the Polish Dominik Tarczyński. After the meeting, Tarczyński published a publication defending Flávio’s election in 2026.
In Bahrain, they met with the Prime Minister and Crown Prince, Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, with Prince Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa, and with parliamentarian Hassan Ibrahim Hassan. According to the senator, the commitments are aimed at “institutional dialogue, international cooperation and the exchange of experiences on strategic themes”.
Flávio Bolsonaro’s rapprochement with Eduardo’s international articulations marks a turning point in the senator’s political trajectory, who has not participated in the main parliamentary delegations led by Eduardo since 2024 to denounce the supposed existence of a “dictatorship” in the country and call for sanctions against the country.
After (PL) left the Presidency, the senator made only three international trips on an official mission: he went to a seminar promoted by Bolsonarists in Spain and a conference in Italy and visited prisons in El Salvador.
The senator was not part of, for example, the Bolsonaro delegation to Washington that involved at least 15 parliamentarians last April. Among them were deputies Paulo Bilynskyj (PL-SP) and Rodrigo Valadares (União Brasil-SE), who are now accompanying the brothers on the trip to the Middle East.
Eduardo was denounced last September on charges of trying to intervene in the former president’s processes. In November, Moraes ordered the cancellation of his diplomatic passport.
“International articulation is central for the extreme right and for Bolsonarism, because the rise of the ultra-right is a global phenomenon”, says professor of international relations and coordinator of the Observatory of the Far Right, David Magalhães.
He assesses that the support that Flávio seeks from foreign authorities can benefit him both internationally, by “reducing the political cost” of radical positions, and nationally, by building an “image of belonging to a global political field” for more ideological supporters.
In this process, the professor considers Eduardo to be essential, due to the “political capital he has accumulated over the last few years”. “What we are observing now is an attempt to transfer part of this political capital, these connections and this international legitimacy to Flávio Bolsonaro, presenting him as the heir and continuation of this already consolidated international articulation”, he concludes.
