Presidency of Jair Bolsonaro

Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro led a significant gathering in Sao Paulo on Sunday, vehemently rejecting allegations of involvement in a coup plot to retain power, CNN reported.

Thousands of Bolsonaro's supporters, draped in Brazil's national colors, congregated on Paulista Avenue, demonstrating solidarity amidst mounting legal challenges.

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.

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.

Brazilians began voting Sunday in a closely fought presidential runoff between far-right incumbent Jair Bolsonaro and his leftist rival Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva that has polarized Latin America's biggest nation.

Brazilians vote Sunday in a polarizing presidential runoff election that pits an incumbent vowing to safeguard conservative Christian values against a former president promising to return the country to a more prosperous past.

Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro transformed the nation's bicentennial Wednesday into a multi-city campaign event, but didn't use his appearances to undermine the upcoming election as his opponents had feared.

Jair Bolsonaro clapped back on April 29 after US actor and environmentalist Leonardo DiCaprio urged Brazilian youth to register to vote in the country's October elections - implying they should vote against the far-right president.

The Hollywood star had posted a message on Twitter Thursday saying that "Brazil is home to the Amazon and other ecosystems critical to climate change.

A Brazilian Supreme Court justice ruled on Dec. 11 that all travelers arriving in Brazil must present a vaccine passport documenting they have been vaccinated against the coronavirus.