Summary

  • Security forces have detained 1,500 people after supporters of far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro stormed government buildings in Brasília

  • Thousands of demonstrators ransacked the Congress building as well as the presidential palace, and Supreme Court on Sunday

  • Brazilian authorities have begun to dismantle protest camps outside the army’s headquarters in the capital and at other sites

  • Bolsonaro lost the presidential election to left-wing Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in October after sowing unsubstantiated claims about voting systems

  • Many of his supporters have refused to accept the result and some have been camping outside army buildings around the country calling for a military intervention

  • Bolsonaro has denied encouraging Sunday's attack, saying what happened had gone beyond democratic protest

  • His wife says he is under observation in hospital in Florida for abdominal pain stemming from when he was stabbed in 2018

  • World leaders including US President Joe Biden have condemned the riots as an attack on democracy

Live Reporting

Edited by Marianna Brady

  1. Bolsonaro's supporters are back with a vengeance

    Katy Watson
    South America correspondent in São Paulo

    This is what so many had feared since Lula won the elections in October.

    After his victory, Bolsonaro supporters created camps in many cities across Brazil, many of them outside the military barracks – and that’s because his most ardent supporters want the military to intervene and make good elections that they say were stolen.

    Jair Bolsonaro’s nickname was Tropical Trump and what we’re seeing in Brazil is right out of the Trump playbook.

    It looked like their movement had been curbed by Lula’s inauguration, the camps in Brasilia had been dismantled and there was no disruption on the day he was sworn in.

    But what’s happening in Brasília looks like they’re back with a vengeance – and the problem is just getting bigger.

    Lula may have won the elections but it was a narrow victory – just over half of Brazil’s voters wanted Lula in power – but nearly half didn’t – and that is what Lula is contending with – a deeply divided and polarised country not willing to let democracy lead the way.

  2. What we know so far

    Hello and welcome to our coverage of unfolding events in the Brazilian capital, where thousands of protesters who support far-right ex-President Jair Bolsonaro have stormed Congress, the Supreme Court and surrounded the presidential palace.

    Here is what we know so far:

    • Some protesters managed to reach the Brazilian senate chamber
    • It is unclear if they are still in the building
    • Police have used tear gas but have not been able to repel the protesters
    • It's happening a week after the inauguration of left-wing veteran Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's
    • Supporters of Bolsonaro do not accept the validity of the election result

    It comes two years and two days after similar events in the US capital, when supporters of Donald Trump stormed the Capitol building in protest at the election of Joe Biden.

    A crowd of people storming have stormed Congress, the Supreme Court and surrounded the presidential palaceEPA

    Police used tear gas in an attempt to repel protesters