• Wave of arrests among pro-Bolsonaro supporters

After the pro-Bolsonaro attack on Sunday January 8, some 300 rioters were arrested the same evening.

And Monday morning, at least 1,200 bolsonarists who occupied a camp in the heart of Brasilia were arrested in turn, when the military police and the army dismantled their camp.

Installed for more than two months, they demanded a military intervention to prevent Lula's accession to power.

This camp provided the bulk of the attackers on Sunday. 

Other camps set up in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo (southeast) were dismantled on Monday, AFP-TV journalists reported.

The governor of Brasilia, Ibaneis Rocha, was suspended Sunday evening for 90 days from office by the Supreme Court for security breaches in the Brazilian capital.

>> To read also - Brazil: behind the pro-Bolsonaro attack, the leg of the American far right

An investigation has also been opened to determine in particular who financed the buses that left from different cities in the country to transport pro-Bolsonaro supporters to Brasilia.

Lula ordered the intervention of federal security forces - soldiers backed by riot police - until January 31 in Brasilia.

  • Lula supported in Brazil...

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has won broad support from his country's political and judicial power.

"We will not let democracy escape us," promised the left-wing president Monday evening in Brasilia.

Lula met with the presidents of the Senate, the Chamber of Deputies and the Supreme Court at the Planalto Palace.

They signed a joint statement "in defense of democracy" posted on the left-wing head of state's Twitter account.

Manifestação conjunta dos presidentes dos Poderes da República, assinada na manhã de hoje, em repúdio aos atos golpistas de ontem em Brasília.

#TeamLula pic.twitter.com/p6dOtuh8S6

— Lula (@LulaOficial) January 9, 2023

The condemnation also found an echo in the streets of Sao Paulo, on the emblematic Paulista Avenue, where, late in the night from Sunday to Monday, tens of thousands of people gathered to "defend democracy" and demand " the imprisonment of the putschists".

  • ... and by the international community

Messages condemning the incidents and supporting President Lula poured in from Latin America and around the world.

Joe Biden invited Lula to come and see him in Washington in early February, according to a joint statement following a telephone interview on Monday, which specifies that the invitation was accepted.

I condemn the assault on democracy and on the peaceful transfer of power in Brazil.

Brazil's democratic institutions have our full support and the will of the Brazilian people must not be undermined.

I look forward to continuing to work with @LulaOficial.

— President Biden (@POTUS) January 8, 2023

The American president expressed during this exchange with Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva the "unfailing support of the United States for Brazilian democracy and the expression of the free will of the Brazilian people, as expressed in the recent election presidential election that President Lula won".

"The will of the Brazilian people and democratic institutions must be respected! President Lula can count on France's unwavering support," Emmanuel Macron said on Twitter.

The will of the Brazilian people and the democratic institutions must be respected!

President @LulaOficial can count on the unwavering support of France.

— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) January 8, 2023

On the same social network, the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, also assured Lula of his "full support" after having been "democratically elected by millions of Brazilians after fair and free elections".

In Mexico, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador expressed his full support for the Brazilian administration.

“Fascism has decided to organize a coup” in Brazil, Colombian President Gustavo Petro wrote on Twitter, asking for an urgent meeting of the Organization of American States (OAS).

  • Bolsonaro hospitalized but soon to return?

Six hours after the assaults, Jair Bolsonaro had lip service condemned "the depredations and invasions of public buildings".

Leaving for Florida two days before Lula's inauguration ceremony, which he did not attend, the former president rejected accusations by his leftist successor that he incited the revolt.

The wife of Jair Bolsonaro announced on Monday that he had been hospitalized for intestinal discomfort following the knife attack he suffered during the 2018 election campaign. Several Brazilian media had previously announced that he had was hospitalized in Orlando, Florida.

Jair Bolsonaro, who is the target of several Supreme Court investigations, may have to leave the United States where he went thanks to a visa granted to leaders in office, and where parliamentarians have spoken in favor of his expulsion.

The former president said in an interview with CNN Brasil that he could return to Brazil earlier than planned to see his doctors.

He said he originally planned to stay in the United States until the end of January but now plans to return earlier than planned.

With AFP and Reuters

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