International
Brazil’s Bolsonaro to be investigated in Jan 8 riot probe
January 14 | By AFP | Ramon Sahmkow and Marcelo Silva da Sousa |
Brazilian far-right ex-president Jair Bolsonaro will be included in an investigation into the origins of the January 8 sacking of government buildings in Brasilia, a Supreme Court judge announced Friday.
The probe of the former leader comes at the request of the office of the prosecutor general (PGR), which cited a video Bolsonaro had posted “questioning the regularity of the 2022 presidential elections.”
By doing so, “Bolsonaro would have publicly incited the commission of a crime,” the PGR said in a statement.
Thousands of so-called “bolsonaristas” invaded the seats of government in Brasilia Sunday, breaking windows and furniture, destroying priceless works of art, and leaving graffiti messages calling for a military coup in their wake.
The Bolsonaro video was posted online two days after the violent storming of the presidency, Congress and Supreme Court and later deleted.
The PGR explained that even though the video came after the uprising, it may serve as “a probative connection” that justified “a global investigation of the acts performed before and after January 8, 2023 by the defendant.”
Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes made the announcement Friday green-lighting Bolsonaro’s inclusion in the probe into what the PGR said was the “instigation and intellectual authorship” of the rioting.
In a note seen by AFP Friday, Bolsonaro’s defense denied any involvement by the ex-president.
Bolsonaro “never had any relationship or participation in these movements,” the note said, blaming the violence on “infiltrators.”
Bolsonaro had for years sought to cast doubts on the reliability of Brazil’s internationally praised election system, and had suggested he would not accept a defeat.
He never publicly acknowledged new President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva victory, and left for the United States, where he remains, two days before his successor’s inauguration.
‘Collusion’
As they move to identify the masterminds and financiers of the violent uprising that invited many parallels with the January 6, 2021 storming of the US Capitol, Brazilian authorities on Friday also tightened the screws on a former Bolsonaro minister.
Anderson Torres, who was Bolsonaro’s last justice minister, is wanted under a Supreme Court warrant for alleged “collusion” with the rioters.
He also stands accused of “omission” in his most recent job as security chief for the capital Brasilia which was the target of the destructive ire of protesters.
He was fired after the violent revolt against leftist Lula.
Like his former boss Bolsonaro, Torres was in the United States when the riots erupted, and is expected back in Brazil any day.
Lula’s new justice minister Flavio Dino, who replaced Torres, said Friday the authorities would give Torres until Monday to present himself.
If he fails to show up, “through international mechanisms, we will launch the procedures for extradition next week, since there is an arrest warrant,” Dino told reporters in the capital.
‘Cause and effect’
The minister also confirmed the discovery at Torres’ home of a draft decree proposing emergency steps for the possible “correction” of the October election that Bolsonaro lost to Lula by a razor-thin margin.
The undated and unsigned draft bears Bolsonaro’s name at the bottom, but Dino said the authorship was unknown.
Published in the Folha de S. Paulo newspaper late Thursday, the document foresees the creation of an election “regulation commission” to take over the electoral oversight functions of the Superior Electoral Court (TSE).
The aim, it said, would be “the preservation or immediate restoration of transparency and correction of the 2022 presidential electoral process.”
It was not clear whether the document was drawn up before or after Bolsonaro’s defeat.
Dino said the document connected some of the dots between Lula’s October 30 election victory and the January 8 riots.
It was, he added, a “fundamental element for understanding cause and effect,” a “missing link between a succession of events, showing that they were not isolated. And yes, that there was… a plan.”
Torres said on Twitter the document was “likely” part of a pile of papers at his home that were destined to be destroyed.
He said the contents of the draft had been taken “out of context” to “feed false narratives” against him.
More than 2,000 rioters were detained after the events, for which the full extent of the damage is still being calculated.
International
Bayly Says Trump ‘Gets Along Better With Dictators’ and Criticizes U.S.–Venezuela Policy
Peruvian author and journalist Jaime Bayly said Tuesday in Madrid that U.S. President Donald Trump “gets along better with dictators than he does with democrats” and that his administration is experiencing “a honeymoon with the Venezuelan dictatorship,” according to a report on his remarks during the launch of his new novel Los golpistas (Galaxia Gutenberg).
Bayly made the comments while presenting the book, which reconstructs the turbulent three days in April 2002 when Venezuelan leader Hugo Chávez briefly lost power. He also sharply criticized the current Venezuelan leadership, saying that Delcy Rodríguez should be recognized as a dictator and “a continuation of Maduro’s dictatorship.”
The writer lamented that the failed 2002 coup — which he described as carried out by “amateurs” — did not lead to free elections that might have restored democracy to Venezuela. He argued that, even now, U.S. policy under Trump seems more focused on securing access to Venezuelan oil than on supporting Venezuelans’ freedom. “Venezuela could have chosen a free, clean and legitimate government — which we still impatiently await despite Trump, who only seems interested in freeing Venezuelan oil, not Venezuelans,” Bayly said.
Bayly also claimed that “every day that passes, Trump seems more enchanted with Delcy,” suggesting that Washington might leave Venezuelan leaders in power so long as they cooperate on economic interests.
A U.S. citizen who has lived in Miami for decades, Bayly said he is proud never to have voted for Trump, whom he described as “servile with the powerful and cruel with the weak.” He also criticized U.S. immigration enforcement as abusive.
Regarding the book’s creative process, Bayly said he combined extensive documentation and interviews with historical events, weaving fictional dialogue and narrative into real episodes without altering core facts. Los golpistas explores why the April 2002 coup attempt against Chávez failed and how key figures such as Chávez and Cuban leader Fidel Castroshaped modern Venezuelan history.
International
Maduro and Cilia Flores Receive Consular Visit in U.S. Jail Ahead of March 26 Hearing
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, who is detained in the United States, and his wife, Cilia Flores, received a consular visit from a Venezuelan government official on January 30 while they remain in a New York jail awaiting their next court appearance, scheduled for March 26, 2026, according to a court filing.
The notification, submitted to the judge by prosecutors and the defense and now part of the digital case file, states that Maduro and Flores were visited by “an official representing the Republic of Venezuela to help facilitate any services the accused needed.”
The document also notes that U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein ordered the U.S. prosecutor’s office at the couple’s first court appearance on January 5 to ensure they had access to consular services and to inform the court when such access was provided.
Their next hearing was postponed by the court from an original date of March 17 to March 26 at 11:00 a.m., after prosecutors, with the consent of the defense, requested extra time to gather evidence, allow the defense to review it, and determine which pretrial motions they will file, the filing says.
Maduro has denied wrongdoing, calling himself “innocent” of the narcotics charges authorities have brought in federal court.
International
Rubio Engages in Quiet Discussions With Castro Family as U.S. Pressures Havana
El secretario de Estado de Estados Unidos, Marco Rubio, sostuvo conversaciones secretas con Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, nieto y actual cuidador del expresidente cubano Raúl Castro, según reveló este miércoles el medio estadounidense Axios. Los contactos se producen en un contexto de fuerte presión de Washington sobre el Gobierno de La Habana.
De acuerdo con la publicación, los diálogos han evitado los canales oficiales del Ejecutivo cubano y reflejan que la administración del Presidente de Estados Unidos, Donald Trump, considera al exmandatario de 94 años como la figura que aún influye en las decisiones clave de la isla. Un alto funcionario citado por Axios matizó el carácter de los encuentros al afirmar: «Yo no las llamaría ‘negociaciones’, sino ‘discusiones’ sobre el futuro».
Rubio, de ascendencia cubana, y su equipo ven en Rodríguez Castro, de 41 años, y su entorno a una generación más joven y con mentalidad empresarial, que percibe agotado el modelo comunista tradicional y valora un eventual acercamiento con Estados Unidos. “Nuestra postura —la postura del gobierno estadounidense— es que el régimen tiene que irse”, declaró el funcionario a Axios, al tiempo que agregó que “pero cómo se verá eso exactamente depende del presidente Trump y aún no lo ha decidido. Rubio sigue en conversaciones con su nieto”.
Según fuentes citadas por el medio, asesores de Trump han mantenido contactos con otros actores influyentes en Cuba, pero consideran al nieto de Castro una figura clave por su cercanía con el exmandatario y sus vínculos con el conglomerado militar-empresarial GAESA. Una fuente describió los intercambios como “sorprendentemente” amistosos.
Las revelaciones surgen mientras el Presidente de Estados Unidos confirmó recientemente que su Gobierno mantiene conversaciones con altos funcionarios cubanos, aunque La Habana lo ha negado. “Estamos hablando con Cuba ahora mismo. (El secretario de Estado de EE.UU.) Marco Rubio está hablando con Cuba ahora mismo, y deberían totalmente llegar a un acuerdo, porque es… realmente, una amenaza humanitaria”, declaró el mandatario a bordo del avión presidencial.
El endurecimiento del bloqueo energético estadounidense ha profundizado la crisis en la isla, con apagones prolongados, reducción de servicios en hospitales y oficinas públicas, y limitaciones en el abastecimiento de productos, lo que añade presión a un eventual diálogo entre Washington y La Habana.
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