Brazil’s former President Jair Bolsonaro reportedly hospitalized; officials say 1,200 detained after capital riot

Brazil’s far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro was reportedly hospitalized Monday in Florida, while officials said 1,200 people were detained following protests in which his supporters stormed three buildings in the country’s capital.

Bolsonaro went to the AdventHealth Celebration medical center near Orlando with what he claimed to be severe abdominal pain, according to the Brazilian newspaper O Globo.

The conservative politician reportedly traveled to Orlando ahead of last week’s inauguration of Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who defeated Bolsonaro in the Oct. 30 presidential election.

The chaotic demonstrations unfolded Sunday with thousands of protesters flooding Brasilia’s Congress, Supreme Court and presidential palace, with some calling for Jair Bolsonaro to return to office. Bolsonaro served as Brazil’s president from 2019 through last year.

“They will not succeed in destroying Brazilian democracy,” Flávio Dino, Brazil’s Minister of Justice and Public Safety, said late Sunday. “We need to say that fully, with all firmness and conviction. We will not accept the path of criminality to carry out political fights in Brazil. A criminal is treated like a criminal.”

The hectic incidents were reminiscent of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by supporters of former President Donald Trump following his election loss to President Biden. Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home is in Palm Beach, Fla., about 170 miles southeast of Orlando.

“I condemn the assault on democracy and on the peaceful transfer of power in Brazil,” Biden tweeted Sunday. “Brazil’s democratic institutions have our full support and the will of the Brazilian people must not be undermined.”

The demonstrations in Brazil occurred when security at the Congress and Supreme Court buildings was likely limited. Public safety chief Anderson Torres has been fired, Federal District Gov. Ibaneis Rocha announced on Twitter.

“This was a gross error by the federal district’s government. It was a tragedy foretold,” Thiago de Aragão of the political strategy firm Arko Advice said. “Everyone knew [the protesters] were coming to Brasilia. The expectation was that the federal district’s government was going to mount a response to protect the capital. They didn’t do any of that.”

With News Wire Services