Lula Silva

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva fired Brazil's army chief on Saturday amid concerns over threats to the country's democracy following the January 8 uprising in the capital by far-right protesters. The official website of the Brazilian armed forces said Gen. Julio Cesar de Arruda had been removed as head of the army. He was replaced by Gen. Toms Miguel Ribeiro Paiva, who was head of the Southeast Military Command. In recent weeks, the military has been targeted by Lula after supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro stormed through government buildings and destroyed public property. Lula said several times in public that there were definitely people in the army who allowed the rioting to occur.

Torres is suspected of intentionally failing to stop the capital attack even when he had the knowledge, the report said, adding that he left the country before the riots broke out

'I am convinced that the door to the Planalto palace was opened so these people could get in because I didn't see the front door had been broken down'

Bolsonarism is a profoundly anti-democratic movement that conflates elements of the US far-right and Brazil's long history of social inequality and militarism into a whole new digital language

Skittish Brazilian authorities on Wednesday spared no effort to boost security in the face of a social media flyer promoting a "mega-protest to retake power" in two dozen cities. Whether because of preventative measures adopted or not, the supposed uprising was a dud. Less than 10 protesters showed along Rio de Janeiro's Copacabana beach; there were more journalists in attendance, plus 29 police vehicles. On Brasilia's esplanade surrounded by federal government buildings, authorities had designated an area for protest and stationed police and national guard troops. Just one couple showed, dressed in the same Brazil soccer jerseys that thousands of rioters wore four days earlier. "We were surprised to be the only ones here today," said Eunice Carvalho, a 58-year-old housewife joined by her husband. "People got scared after the imprisonments, which were excessive." Speaking to journalists in Brasilia earlier, the federal appointee who has assumed control of the capital's security sai

Lula's inauguration on January 1 was "an extremely successful security operation" but on January 2 "Anderson Torres took over as Secretary of Security, dismissed the entire command and travelled

After Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva narrowly won in Brazil's presidential elections last month, outgoing Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has filed a petition to formally challenge the poll results

The defence ministry released a report Wednesday highlighting flaws in Brazil's electoral systems and proposing improvements, but there was nothing to substantiate claims of fraud from some of President Jair Bolsonaro's supporters protesting his Oct. 30 defeat. It was the first comment by the military on the runoff election, which has drawn protests nationwide even as the transition has begun for President-elect Luiz Incio Lula da Silva's inauguration Jan. 1. Thousands have been gathering outside military installations in Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Brasilia and other cities calling for intervention by the armed forces to keep Bolsonaro in office. When the defence ministry announced this week that it would present its report on the election, some Bolsonaro supporters rejoiced, anticipating the imminent revelation of a smoking gun. That didn't happen. There is nothing astonishing in the document, Diego Aranha, an associate professor of systems security at Aarhus University in Denmar

Former President Luiz Incio Lula da Silva of the leftist Workers' Party got the most votes in Brazil's presidential election Sunday, but not enough to avoid a runoff vote against his far-right rival, incumbent Jair Bolsonaro. With 97% of the votes tallied, da Silva had 47.9% support and Bolsonaro 43.6%. Since neither candidate received more than 50% of the valid votes, which exclude spoiled and blank ballots, a second round vote between them will be scheduled for October 30. Brazil's election authority announced late Sunday that a second round was a mathematical certainty. The highly polarised election will determine whether the country returns a leftist to the helm of the world's fourth-largest democracy or keeps the far-right leader in office for another four years. Bolsonaro's administration has been marked by incendiary speech, his testing of democratic institutions, his widely criticised handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and the worst deforestation in the Amazon rainforest in

That move will initially depend on a judge based in the southern city of Curitiba, where the former president is jailed.

With the habeas corpus denied, Lula can be arrested any time, which will prevent him from participating in the 2018 presidential elections