US President Joe Biden and his Brazilian counterpart Lula da Silva talked over the phone a day after supporters of ex-president Jair Bolsonaro stormed into the seat of government in the Brazilian capital Brasilia.
Rallies were held in Brazil in support of democracy a day after protesters stormed into the nation’s halls of power. (AFP)
US President Joe Biden has conveyed "unwavering" support to Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in a phone call and invited him to the White House next month.
"President Biden conveyed the unwavering support of the United States for Brazil's democracy," the White House said in a statement on Monday, adding that Biden, who is in Mexico City for a summit, invited Lula to visit him in "early February."
Lula accepted the invitation, according to the statement.
The phone call came the day after supporters of Lula's defeated right-wing rival, ex-president Jair Bolsonaro, stormed into the seat of government in the Brazilian capital Brasilia.
Their attack, fueled by the Bolsonaro camp's repeated false assertions that last year's election was stolen, echoed an assault by supporters of ex-president Donald Trump on the US Capitol soon after he lost his 2020 election to Biden.
World leaders have closed ranks around Lula, a veteran leftist politician and already a former president of Latin America's most populous country.
Biden told Lula of his support for "the free will of the Brazilian people as expressed in Brazil's recent presidential election, which President Lula won.
President Biden condemned the violence and the attack on democratic institutions and on the peaceful transfer of power," the statement said.
"The two leaders pledged to work closely together on the issues confronting the United States and Brazil, including climate crisis, economic development, and peace and security," the statement said, describing the February meeting in Washington as a chance for "in-depth consultations on a wide-ranging shared agenda."
Investigation continues
Brazilian authorities have said that they were looking into who may have been behind the shocking uprising that sent protesters storming into the nation’s halls of power.
Also on Monday, police broke down a pro-Bolsonaro encampment outside a military building and detained some 1,200 people there, the justice ministry’s press office told The Associated Press.
The federal police press office said the force already plans to indict roughly 1,000 people.
Lula and the heads of the Supreme Court, Senate and Lower House signed a letter that denounced the attack and said were taking legal measures.
Justice Minister Flavio Dino told reporters that police have begun tracking those who paid for the buses that transported protesters to the capital.
Speaking at a news conference, he said rioters apparently intended for their displays to create a domino effect nationwide, and that they could be charged with a range of offences, including organised crime, staging a coup and violent abolition of the democratic rule of law.
"We think that the worst is over," Dino said, adding that the government is now focused on punishing lawbreakers and those who enabled them.
"We cannot and will not compromise in fulfilling our legal duties, because this fulfilment is essential so such events do not repeat themselves."
Bolsonaro hospitalised
Meanwhile, Bolsonaro was admitted to a hospital in Florida with intestinal discomfort due to a stabbing he suffered during the 2018 election campaign, his wife Michelle Bolsonaro said on Instagram.
In Brazil, Dr. Antonio Luiz Macedo, who has been treating Bolsonaro since the stabbing, said he has an intestinal subocclusion, or blockage, but was unlikely to need surgery.
"It is not a serious case," he told Reuters.
Earlier, a source close to his family said Bolsonaro's condition was "not worrying." Brazilian newspaper O Globo had reported earlier in the day that Bolsonaro had been suffering from abdominal pain.
Bolsonaro has undergone six surgeries since his stabbing, four of them directly linked to the attack.
Source: TRTWorld and agencies
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