Former Brazil President Bolsonaro Hospitalised, Over 1,500 Supporters Detained After Riots

Bolsonaro was admitted to a hospital in Florida on Monday as more than 1,500 of his supporters were detained in Brasilia after they stormed the capital over the weekend.

Supporters of Brazil's far-right ex-president Jair Bolsonaro dismantle a camp outside the Duque de Caxias refinery in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on January 9, 2023. ( Image Source :AFP )

New Delhi: Former Brazilian President and Far-right leader Jair Bolsonaro was admitted to a hospital in Florida on Monday as more than 1,500 of his supporters were detained in Brasilia after they stormed the capital over the weekend, as reported by the news agency Reuters. Bolsonaro went to a hospital in Orlando on Monday with intestinal pains related to a stabbing he suffered during the 2018 election campaign, his wife, Michelle, said on Instagram. His doctor said he had an intestinal blockage that was not serious and would likely not need surgery, Reuters reported. 

The newly elected President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, a leftist who took office after defeating Bolsonaro in an October vote, promised to bring those responsible for the violence to justice. The mobs rampaged through Congress, the Supreme Court, and presidential offices, smashing windows, furniture, and artwork. Bolsonaro faces several investigations before the Supreme Court in Brazil and his future in the United States, where he travelled with a visa issued to heads of state, diplomats, and other government officials in question.

Representative Joaquin Castro, a Democratic lawmaker in the U.S. Congress, said on CNN that the United States should not give refuge to an "authoritarian who has inspired domestic terrorism" and should send Bolsonaro back to Brazil. The U.S. government declined to comment on Bolsonaro's visa.

Brazilian soldiers backed by police on Monday restored order in the Brazilian capital. According to Reuters witnesses, they dismantled a two-month-old camp opposite the army's headquarters where Bolsonaro supporters have been protesting since he lost the election. Some 1,200 people from the camp were detained for questioning on Monday, authorities said, after about 300 arrests on Sunday.

Thousands of Bolsonaro's backers set off from that encampment on Sunday before storming the presidential palace, Supreme Court, and Congress in the worst attack on state institutions since Brazil's return to democracy in the 1980s.

(With Reuters Inputs)