Jair Bolsonaro

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva met Monday with his Venezuelan counterpart Nicolas Maduro, vowing a new era for a relationship that was severed under far-right leader Jair Bolsonaro.

Three months after leaving for the United States in the final hours of his term, Brazil's ex-president Jair Bolsonaro is returning home Thursday to reenter politics -- complicating life for his successor and nemesis, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

A Brazilian magazine on Thursday released audio of a senator claiming then President Jair Bolsonaro sought help in a plot to annul the October elections and keep himself in power.

Brazil's Supreme Court has agreed to investigate whether former president Jair Bolsonaro incited the far-right mob that ransacked the country's Congress, top court and presidential offices, a swift escalation in the probe that shows the ex-leader could face legal consequences for an extremist movement he helped build.

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.

Brazilian security forces cleared protest camps Monday and arrested 1,500 people as President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva condemned "acts of terrorism" after a far-right mob stormed the seat of power, unleashing chaos on the capital.

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

Greece has condemned the "assault on democratic institutions" in Brazil Sunday after supporters of far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro invaded the country's Congress, presidential palace and Supreme Court.

"Deeply concerned and appalled by yesterday's assaults on democratic institutions in Brasilia," the Greek Foreign Ministry tweeted Monday. 

Several thousand supporters of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro stormed the National Congress, the presidential palace and the Supreme Court in the capital. The security services restored order after some delay. There are no reports of casualties during the riots.

Decked out in the colors of Brazil's national flag, supporters of vanquished ex-president Jair Bolsonaro smashed windows and sowed destruction as they barged into Congress Sunday clamoring for "military intervention."

Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has done it again: Twenty years after first winning the Brazilian presidency, the leftist defeated incumbent Jair Bolsonaro on Oct. 30 in an extremely tight election that marks an about-face for the country after four years of far-right politics.