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
Mexico, Brazil and Colombia left out of Trump’s “Shield of the Americas” summit
Left-wing governments in Latin America, including Mexico, Brazil and Colombia, were excluded from the “Shield of the Americas” summit convened by U.S. President Donald Trump.
The meeting, held in Miami, Florida, brought together 12 presidents from across the continent to discuss strategies to combat drug cartels and organized crime.
In Mexico’s case, President Claudia Sheinbaum had recently rejected the use of military force as a solution to the drug trafficking problem. She has argued that her administration’s security strategy is producing results and emphasized that force alone is not the answer.
During the summit, Trump said that most narcotics entering the United States come through Mexico and referred to his previous conversations with Sheinbaum on the issue.
“I like the president very much, she’s a very good person,” Trump said. “But I told her: ‘Let me eradicate the cartels.’ And she said, ‘No, no, no, please, president.’ We have to eradicate them. We have to finish them.”
The remarks highlighted ongoing differences between Washington and Mexico over how to confront drug trafficking networks operating across the region.
International
Trump announces 17-nation alliance in the Americas to “destroy” drug cartels
U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Saturday the creation of a 17-nation alliance across the Americas aimed at dismantling drug cartels, during a regional summit held at his golf club in Doral.
Speaking to a group of allied leaders at the Shield of the Americas Summit, Trump said the initiative would rely on military force to eliminate powerful criminal networks operating throughout the hemisphere.
“The heart of our agreement is the commitment to use lethal military force to destroy these sinister cartels and terrorist networks. Once and for all, we will put an end to them,” Trump told the assembled heads of state.
The Republican leader argued that large portions of territory in the Western Hemisphere have fallen under the control of transnational gangs and pledged U.S. support to governments seeking to confront them. He even suggested the potential use of highly precise missiles against cartel leaders.
Before making the announcement, Trump greeted the roughly twelve leaders attending the summit, including close allies such as Javier Milei, Daniel Noboa and Nayib Bukele, whom he described as a “great president.”
The meeting forms part of Trump’s broader regional strategy inspired by his reinterpretation of the Monroe Doctrine, which seeks to reinforce Washington’s influence in the Americas, strengthen security cooperation and counter the growing presence of powers such as China.
Trump pointed to recent U.S. actions in the region as examples of his administration’s approach, including the operation that led to the capture of former Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro earlier this year.
The summit also takes place amid escalating international tensions following the conflict launched last week by the United States and Israel against Iran.
International
Trump replaces Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem with Senator Markwayne Mullin
U.S. President Donald Trump announced Thursday the departure of Kristi Noem as Secretary of Homeland Security, one of the key architects of the administration’s policy of deporting undocumented immigrants.
Noem, who has been assigned a new role as a “special envoy” to Latin America, will be replaced starting March 31 by Republican Senator Markwayne Mullin, the president said in a message posted on his social media platform Truth Social.
According to media reports, Trump made the decision after Noem’s recent hearings in Congress, during which she faced tough questions regarding the awarding of a major public contract.
Mexico, Brazil and Colombia left out of Trump’s “Shield of the Americas” summit
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