International

Brazil seeks arrest of Bolsonaro ally over Brasilia riots

Photo: EVARISTO SA / AFP

January 11 | By AFP | Florian Plaucheur with Louis Genot in Rio de Janeiro |

Brazilian authorities seeking to punish the mob that stormed the halls of power in Brasilia issued arrest warrants Tuesday for two former senior officials, one of them a close ally of far right ex-president Jair Bolsonaro.

One of them is Anderson Torres, who used to be Bolsonaro’s justice minister and lately served as security chief in the capital.

He was fired after Sunday’s stunning violence, which was reminiscent of the January 6, 2021 insurrection in Washington, and brought global condemnation.

Anderson’s failure to act as thousands of Bolsonaro supporters overran congress, the presidential palace and the supreme court is “potentially criminal,” judge Alexandre Moraes of the Supreme Court said.

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He also issued an arrest warrant for Fabio Augusto, who led the military police in Brasilia and was also removed from his job after Sunday’s mob violence. News reports said he is already in custody.

“Brazilian democracy will not be struck, much less destroyed, by terrorist criminals,” the judge wrote in his decision.

Torres was on vacation in the United States on Sunday as the mob ran amok. On Tuesday he denied any complicity in the events and said he will return to Brazil and defend himself.

Bolsonaro has also been in the United States since the end of December, skipping the inauguration of successor Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

On Tuesday, Bolsonaro left the Florida hospital where he had been receiving treatment for intestinal problems stemming from a stabbing in 2018.

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Most detainees released

The security forces in Brasilia have come under stinging attack over how they responded initially to the riot. Video posted on social media showed some of them filming the violence rather than intervening to halt it.

Justice Minister Flavio Dino said around 50 arrest warrants had been issued for people not caught in the act of pillaging and for others not present but accused of organizing the attack.

Police have arrested more than 1,500 people so far but said on Tuesday that “599 people were released, mostly old people, people with health problems, the homeless and mothers with children” on humanitarian grounds.

Most of the arrests took place on Monday as police cleared protest camps set up in the capital.

Lula had condemned “terrorist acts and criminal, coup-mongering vandalism” when he returned to work at the pillaged presidential palace on Monday.

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But on Tuesday he said “Brazilian democracy remains firm,” in a post on Twitter.

“Let’s recover the country from hatred and disunity,” added the 77-year-old former trade unionist, who took office on January 1 for his third term as president after defeating Bolsonaro in the deeply divisive election.

Police said 527 people remain detained while others were being processed.

Those that were released were taken on buses to a bus station from where they would be able to return to their home regions.

From one of the buses, passengers shouted: “Victory is ours!” Some people put their arms outside the vehicles with clenched fists — a symbol of resistance — or making the “V” victory sign.

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Other detainees were taken to police stations to then be transferred to the Papuda prison complex, an AFP reporter said.

‘Humiliation’

“Now we’re going to rest and prepare ourselves for another battle because if they think they will intimidate us, they are very wrong,” Agostinho Ribeiro, a freed Bolsonaro supporter, told AFP.

He said the detainees’ treatment at a police gymnasium where they were held had been humiliating and compared it to a Nazi concentration camp, while blaming the rioting on left-wing “infiltrators.”

Hundreds of soldiers and police mobilized to dismantle an improvised camp outside the army’s headquarters in Brasilia on Monday.

There, some 3,000 Bolsonaro supporters had set up tents — used as a base for the sea of protesters who ran riot for around four hours on Sunday.

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Bolsonaro has alleged his electoral defeat was due to a conspiracy against him by Brazil’s courts and electoral authorities.

Lula, who previously led Brazil from 2003 to 2010, met with the leaders of both houses of Congress and the chief justice of the Supreme Court on Monday.

International

Maradona’s daughter accuses medical team of “horrible manipulation” in court

One of the daughters of Diego Maradona testified in court this Tuesday, breaking down in tears as she denounced what she described as “absolute and horrible manipulation” by her father’s medical team, during an emotional hearing in Argentina.

Gianinna Maradona stated that she and her siblings agreed to home hospitalization after doctors presented it as the best option following the neurosurgery Maradona underwent on November 3, 2020.

The football icon died on November 25 of that year, and the ongoing trial seeks to determine whether the conditions of his home care were appropriate.

According to Gianinna, what the family found at the residence where Maradona was recovering did not match what had been promised. She testified that there was no adequate medical equipment, constant monitoring, or even an ambulance available, despite assurances of continuous care.

“The manipulation was absolute and horrible,” she said during the hearing in San Isidro, near Buenos Aires.

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She accused members of the medical team, including neurosurgeon Leopoldo Luque, psychiatrist Agustina Cosachov, and psychologist Carlos Díaz, of misleading the family.

“I trusted these people, and all they did was manipulate us and leave my son without a grandfather,” she added.

Later in her testimony, recalling that six years have passed since her father’s death, she became emotional and said she struggled deeply with grief in the aftermath.

International

Trump extends Iran ceasefire after Pakistan mediation request

The president of the United States, Donald Trump, announced on Tuesday that he will extend the ceasefire with Iran, which was set to expire on Wednesday, following a request from Pakistan.

In a statement shared on Truth Social, Trump said the truce will remain in place until Iran presents a proposal and negotiations are concluded, regardless of the outcome.

“I will extend the ceasefire until their proposal is presented and negotiations are completed, whatever the result,” the U.S. leader stated.

Trump justified the decision by claiming that Iran’s government is “deeply divided” and noting that Pakistani authorities, acting as mediators, requested a pause in military action until Iranian leaders and representatives submit a unified proposal.

International

Venezuelan opposition demands election date and minimum wage increase

A group of opposition members from the Zulia Humana and former political prisoners on Tuesday demanded that authorities set a date for elections in Venezuela and increase the minimum wage, which has been frozen since 2022 and is currently worth just a few cents per month according to the Banco Central de Venezuela.

During a press conference in Maracaibo, Professor Eduardo Labrador stressed the urgency of establishing an electoral timeline. “We demand that a date be set for elections so Venezuelans can have free and transparent voting. It is essential to have that date now,” he said.

Economist Rodrigo Cabezas, who served under the late President Hugo Chávez, also called for an increase in the minimum wage, arguing that it is feasible through economic policy measures, although he did not specify an amount due to limited public data.

Cabezas warned that Venezuela experienced “galloping inflation” between March of last year and March 2026, a stage that precedes hyperinflation—a phenomenon the country has already faced. However, he clarified that Venezuela is not currently in hyperinflation, expressing hope that it will not return.