Bolsonaro supporters storm Brazilian Congress

Brazil's Justice Minister Flávio Dino said former President Jair Bolsonaro bears "political responsibility" for Sunday's attacks on government institutions in the country’s capital Brasília, but added there were no legal grounds to investigate him in connection with the riots at this time.

The minister said there are "no elements to advance in a sphere of legal responsibility" yet against Bolsonaro. 

"But in a political analysis, the entire Brazilian nation knows that in all these years in presidency, Bolsonaro and everyone who follows him has in recent years uttered frequent [verbal] attacks against the Supreme Court,” he said.

Bolsonaro left Brazil for the US on Dec. 30, 2022 — just two days before President Lula’s inauguration — and is currently in a Florida hospital suffering from abdominal “discomfort,” according to his wife Michelle Bolsonaro in an Instagram post.  

Bolsonaro routinely attacked and discredited Brazil’s electoral system, the country’s Supreme Court, and left-wing voters and leadership during the course of his presidency. He also never explicitly conceded to Lula’s election win last October.

The former president did, however, take to Twitter on Sunday to criticize the attacks on government buildings and insist he had always acted within the bounds of the Constitution.

"Peaceful demonstrations, respecting the law, are part of democracy. However, depredations and invasions of public buildings as occurred today, as well as those practiced by the left in 2013 and 2017, escape the rule,” Bolsonaro said.

He continued, saying “Throughout my mandate, I have always been acting according to the Constitution, respecting and defending the laws, democracy, transparency and our sacred freedom.”

“Furthermore, I repudiate the accusations, without evidence, attributed to me by the current chief executive of Brazil," the former president said.

President Joe Biden spoke by phone with Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on Monday following an attack on government buildings in Brazil.

During the call, Biden reiterated that Lula won the most recent Brazilian presidential election, according to a readout. He also invited the Brazilian president to Washington, DC, which Lula accepted and will visit "in “early February for in-depth consultations on a wide-ranging shared agenda.”

Biden and Lula, “pledged to work closely together on the issues confronting the United States and Brazil, including climate change, economic development, and peace and security.”

In a tweet on his official account, Lula thanked Biden for his “concern and solidarity and his willingness to maintain a permanent dialogue between our countries to strengthen democracy.”

Brazilian authorities, security and staff worked Monday to cleanup and assess the damage left behind after hundreds of supporters of former leader Jair Bolsonaro stormed government buildings to protest against his successor and rival, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Here are some photos of the aftermath:

Vice President Kamala Harris on Monday condemned the “obvious and clear attack on a democratic process" in Brazil after hundreds of supporters of the country’s former leader Jair Bolsonaro stormed the seats of power in the capital Brasilia.

“Let's be clear, this was an obvious and clear attack on a democratic process and we condemn it of course,” Harris said to reporters in her ceremonial office, after swearing in the US’ newest ambassador to Brazil Elizabeth Frawley Bagley. 

Harris ignored a question on whether Bolsonaro should be removed from the US as he currently remains in Florida.

US State Department spokesperson Ned Price would not confirm that former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro had entered the United States on an A1 visa — which is granted to heads of state and only valid while they are in that position.

Price added that if such a visa holder “is no longer engaged in official business on behalf of their government, it is incumbent on that visa holder to depart the US or to request a change to another immigration status within 30 days.”

He said that request has to be made to the Department of Homeland Security, adding that “if an individual has no basis on which to be in the United States, an individual is subject to removal by the Department of Homeland Security.”

“I am of course, not going to comment on the visa records of any individual, individual visa records, as you know, are confidential, and we wouldn't speak to the status of any particular individual,” Price said at a State Department briefing Monday.

Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro was admitted to a hospital on Monday, his wife said in a post on her official Instagram account.

Bolsonaro was admitted for abdominal "discomfort" related to injuries from a 2018 knife attack during a political rally, Michelle Bolsonaro said. The former president has been hospitalized several times over the years due to the effects of his knife injury.

It comes after hundreds of supporters of Bolsonaro stormed the seats of power in the capital Brasilia, trashing offices and drawing condemnation from the government and the international community Sunday.

The breaches happened a week after the inauguration of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who returned to power after a 12-year hiatus following a victory over Bolsonaro in a run-off election at the end of October.

An ally of the former president tells CNN Brasil that Bolsonaro had been feeling discomfort on Sunday night and that he is hospitalized in the Orlando area where he has been visiting for over a week.

Correction: This story has been updated to reflect that Bolsonaro departed Brazil on Dec. 30.

The United States has “not yet received any requests for information or for action” related to the Brazilian investigation into Sunday’s attacks on government institutions in the nation’s capital, US State Department spokesperson Ned Price said Monday.

“The United States and Brazil, we are close partners. We work together day to day on any number of matters and issues, and oftentimes those are matters of law enforcement. We have well-honed processes in place to cooperate where requests are made for information or potentially for action on the part of Brazil to the United States. In this case, we have not yet received any requests for information or for action,” he added.

Several US lawmakers have called for the extradition of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who has been residing in Florida since shortly before the inauguration of Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

More than a thousand people were arrested following Sunday's protests in Brazil's capital, Brazilian Justice Minister Flávio Dino told reporters Monday in Brasilia.

Dino said there were "about 1,500" arrests in Brasilia — at least 209 were arrested Sunday and "about 1,200" Monday in the area where protesters were camped out near the army's headquarters, according to Dino.

Brazilian authorities have dismantled a camp set up in Brasilia by supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro and protesters have been arrested, according to Ricardo Cappelli, secretary for the Ministry of Justice.

Cappelli said the camp, which was set up as a de-facto headquarters for the "anti-democratic" attacks on Sunday, was dismantled, the barricades removed, and protesters won't be allowed back in the area.

The official said people in the area were sent to police headquarters. He added that the "law will be followed."

Aerial images showed several buses carrying protesters lining the streets of Brasilia on their way to federal police buildings.