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World

Benedict’s death clears path for Pope Francis to retire of old age in future

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VATICAN CITY, Jan 3 (Reuters) – Six months ago Pope Francis brushed off speculation he was about to resign due to health problems, but even if he had toyed with the idea, he faced one major obstacle: there was already another ex-pope in retirement.

The death on Saturday of Benedict, who in 2013 became the first pontiff in 600 years to step down instead of reigning for life, should make any decision to step down easier on Francis and the Church, which has struggled enough with having “two popes”, let alone three – two retired and one reigning.

It could also prompt the current pontiff to review what happens to future popes who decide to shuffle away from office because of old age rather than holding on until they die.

Francis is now 86, one year older than Benedict was when he retired. Despite needing a cane and a wheelchair, he shows no sign of slowing down. Trips are planned for Africa this month and Portugal in August.

He has made it clear that he would not hesitate to step down someday if his mental or physical health impeded him from leading the 1.3 billion-member Church.

In an interview with Reuters on July 2, he dismissed rumours of imminent resignation. “It never entered my mind,” he said, also denying rumours among diplomats that he had cancer.

The previous month, the Catholic media world and some secular outlets were caught up in a frenzy of unsubstantiated reports and frivolous tweets speculating he would be out within a few months.

But as he now approaches the 10th anniversary of his election in March, and in four years his life’s ninth decade, the chances of resignation will increase.

Church law says a pope can resign but the decision must be without outside pressure, a precaution that harkens back to the centuries when European potentates influenced the papacy.

NO LONGER UNTHINKABLE

[1/2] Pope Francis leads the Mass to mark the World Day of Peace in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican, January 1, 2023. Vatican Media/­Handout via REUTERS

Now that longer life spans have made papal resignations no longer unthinkable, there have been repeated calls from Church leaders to regulate the role of former pontiffs, in part because of the confusion stemming wrought by two men wearing white living in the Vatican.

Francis told a Spanish newspaper last month that he did not intend to define the juridical status of popes emeritus, although he had previously indicated privately that a Vatican department could script such rules.

Australian Cardinal George Pell, a conservative who was close to Benedict, has written that while a retired pontiff could retain the title of “pope emeritus”, he should return to being a cardinal, and be known as “Cardinal (surname), Pope Emeritus”.

Pell also said a former pontiff should not wear white, as Benedict did, telling Reuters in a 2020 interview that it was important for Catholics to be clear that “there is only one pope”.

Academics and canon lawyers at Italy’s Bologna University who have studied the issue say the Church cannot risk even the appearance of having “two heads or two kings” and have proposed a set of rules.

They say a former pope should not return to being a cardinal, as Pell proposes, but be called “Bishop Emeritus of Rome”.

Francis told Reuters in July that is precisely what he would want to be called.

In that case there might not be any need for new legislation he would then be subject to existing rules covering retired bishops.

Existing rules say bishops emeritus should “avoid every attitude and relationship that could even hint at some kind of parallel authority to that of the diocesan bishop, with damaging consequences for the pastoral life and unity of the diocesan community”.

Although he had retired, Benedict wrote, gave interviews and, unwittingly or not, became a lightning rod for opponents of Pope Francis, either for doctrinal reasons or because they were loath to relinquish the clerical privileges the new pope wanted to dismantle.

Francis told Reuters that he would not stay in the Vatican or return to his native Argentina but live modestly in a home for retired priests in the Italian capital “because it’s my diocese”. He said he would want it to be near a large church so he could spend his final days hearing confessions.

Reporting by Philip Pullella
Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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World

Brazil markets tumble on Lula’s first full day in office

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BRASILIA, Jan 2 (Reuters) – Brazilian markets delivered a withering verdict on leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s first full day in office on Monday, after he pledged to prioritize social issues and ordered a budget-busting extension to a fuel tax exemption.

Lula’s decision to extend the fuel tax exemption, which will deprive the Treasury of 52.9 billion reais ($9.9 billion) a year in fiscal income, was a stinging rebuke of his finance minister Fernando Haddad, a Workers Party (PT) loyalist who had said it would not be extended.

Haddad, who is seeking to dispel market fears that he might not maintain fiscal discipline, took office on Monday, pledging to control spending. “We are not here for adventures,” he said.

Markets seemed unconvinced.

The real currency lost 1.5% in value against the dollar in afternoon trading, while the benchmark Sao Paulo stock market index (.BVSP) ended 3.06% down. Shares of state-run oil company Petrobras (PETR4.SA) retreated nearly 6.45%.

In speeches delivered at his inauguration in Brasilia on Sunday, Lula promised that tackling hunger and poverty would be “the hallmark” of his third presidency after two previous stints running the country from 2003 to 2010.

Financial analysts said the start of Lula’s third presidency was in line with his campaign promises, and looked similar to earlier Workers Party policies that led to a deep recession.

Lula narrowly defeated far-right incumbent Jair Bolsonaro in October, swinging South America’s largest nation back on a left-wing track.

On Monday, Lula instructed ministers to revoke steps to privatize state companies taken by the previous administration, including studies to sell Petrobras, the Post Office and state broadcasting company EBC.

On Sunday, he signed a decree extending an exemption for fuels from federal taxes, a measure passed by his predecessor aimed at lowering their cost in the run-up to the election, but which will deprive the Treasury of 52.9 billion reais ($9.9 billion) a year in fiscal income.

The federal tax exemption for fuels will last one year for diesel and biodiesel and two months for gasoline and ethanol, a decree published in the official gazette showed on Monday.

Gabriel Araujo Gracia, analyst at Guide Investimentos, said Lula’s plans to increase social spending, expand the role of state banks and abolish a constitutionally mandated spending ceiling harked back to the worst days of Workers Party rule.

“The policies remind us of Dilma Rousseff’s government rather than Lula’s,” Gracia said, referring to Lula’s handpicked successor, who was impeached while in office. “Her policies led to Brazil’s worst recession since 1929.”

Lula, who lifted millions of Brazilians from poverty during his first two terms, criticized Bolsonaro for allowing hunger to return to Brazil, and wept during his speech to supporters on Sunday as he described how poverty had increased again.

Allies said Lula’s newfound social conscience was the result of his 580 days in prison, Reuters reported on Sunday.

Lula kicks off his third presidential term after persuading Congress to pass a one-year, 170 billion-reais increased social spending package, in line with his campaign promises.

“The package ended up being bigger than expected, with potential repercussions for public debt sustainability,” Banco BTG Pactual said in a research note.

Lula spent his first day in office meeting with more than a dozen heads of state who attended his inauguration.

The meetings started with the king of Spain, and continued with South American presidents, among them the leftist leaders of Argentina, Chile and Bolivia, as well as representatives from Cuba and Venezuela, and Vice President Wang Qishan of China.

On Twitter, Lula said he had received a letter from Chinese leader Xi Jinping expressing a desire to increase cooperation between the two countries.

“China is our biggest trading partner, and we can further expand relations between our countries,” Lula added.

The new president is also set to attend the wake of Brazilian soccer star Pele, who died on Thursday at 82 after battling colon cancer.

Lula will pay his respects and pay tribute to Pele and his family on Tuesday morning, the president’s office said in a statement.

($1 = 5.3633 reais)

Reporting by Anthony Boadle, Marcela Ayres and Gabriel Araujo; Editing by Matthew Lewis and Jonathan Oatis

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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World

Brazil’s Bolsonaro lands in Florida, avoiding Lula handover

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BRASILIA, Dec 30 (Reuters) – Outgoing Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro landed in Florida on Friday, after delivering a teary message to his supporters less than two days before his fierce leftist rival Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is set to take office.

An official Brazilian plane landed in Orlando, Florida late on Friday, flight tracking website FlightAware showed. Although Bolsonaro’s destination has not been officially confirmed, his security staff were already in place in Florida.

Bolsonaro’s exit from Brazil came after he repeatedly said he would not hand over the presidential sash to Lula at Sunday’s inauguration, breaking with Brazil’s democratic tradition. He may also face legal risks from remaining in Brazil as his presidential immunity expires when Lula takes office.

His departure followed an emotional final address on social media earlier on Friday, in which he ran through the highlights of his time in office, sought to defend his legacy, and tried to inspire his followers into keeping up the fight against Lula.

Vice President Hamilton Mourao is now acting president after Bolsonaro left the country, his press office said. But Mourao will not pass the presidential sash to Lula, a spokesperson noted, raising doubts about who will do the ceremonial handover.

The presidential plane departed Brasilia shortly after 2 pm local time.

“I am in flight, back soon,” Bolsonaro was quoted as saying by CNN Brasil earlier in the day. His press office did not respond to a request for comment.

The U.S. State Department did not respond to a request for comment. The U.S. embassy in Brasilia referred questions about Bolsonaro’s trip to the Brazilian president’s office.

FINAL WORDS

Bolsonaro’s exit follows weeks of silence, after he lost Brazil’s most fraught election in a generation.

Some of Bolsonaro’s supporters have refused to accept Lula’s victory, believing his baseless claims that the October election was stolen. That has contributed to a tense atmosphere in the capital Brasilia, with riots and a foiled bomb plot last week.

In his social media address, Bolsonaro labeled the bomb plot a “terrorist act” for which there was no justification. He sought to distance himself from George Washington Sousa, the man who confessed to making the bomb, and who told police that Bolsonaro’s call to arms inspired him to build an arsenal of guns and explosives.

“The man had ideas that are not shared by any citizen, but now they classify him as a ‘Bolsonarista’,” the president said.

Yet Bolsonaro also praised protesters who have been camping outside army barracks across the country, urging the military to stage a coup.

“I did not encourage anyone to enter confrontation,” he said, adding that his supporters had merely been seeking “freedom.” He said the protests had been “spontaneous,” with no leadership or coordination.

Bolsonaro’s swift exit was a disappointment for many on the right, where his reputation has taken a beating for his post-election silence. Some of his diehard supporters at the entrance of the Alvorada Palace, the presidential residence where he lived, called him a “coward” during his speech, according to a Reuters witness.

Others felt abandoned by his departure.

“It feels as if my boyfriend has left me,” said Deise Casela, a 57-year-old widow, touching the Brazilian flag that was lowered after Bolsonaro left the residence. “I am mourning again.”

Reporting by Ricardo Brito, Gabriel Araujo, Ueslei Marcelino and Anthony Boadle; Editing by Rosalba O’Brien and Kim Coghill

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Sports

Soccer star Pele, Brazilian legend of the beautiful game, dies at 82

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SAO PAULO, Dec 29 (Reuters) – Pele, the legendary Brazilian soccer player who rose from barefoot poverty to become one of the greatest and best-known athletes in modern history, died on Thursday at the age of 82.

Sao Paulo’s Albert Einstein hospital, where Pele was undergoing treatment, said he died at 3:27 p.m. “due to multiple organ failures resulting from the progression of colon cancer associated with his previous medical condition.”

The death of the only man to win the World Cup three times as a player was confirmed on his Instagram account.

“Inspiration and love marked the journey of King Pele, who peacefully passed away today,” it read, adding he had “enchanted the world with his genius in sport, stopped a war, carried out social works all over the world and spread what he most believed to be the cure for all our problems: love.”

Tributes poured in from across the worlds of sport, politics and popular culture for a figure who epitomized Brazil’s dominance of the beautiful game.

The government of President Jair Bolsonaro, who leaves office on Sunday, declared three days of mourning, and said in a statement that Pele was “a great citizen and patriot, raising the name of Brazil wherever he went.”

Bolsonaro’s successor, President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, wrote on Twitter that “few Brazilians carried the name of our country as far as he did.”

French President Emmanuel Macron said Pele’s legacy would live forever. “The game. The king. Eternity,” Macron tweeted.

Pele had been undergoing chemotherapy since he had a tumor removed from his colon in September 2021.

He also had difficulty walking unaided since an unsuccessful hip operation in 2012. In February 2020, on the eve of the coronavirus pandemic, his son Edinho said Pele’s ailing physical state had left him depressed.

On Monday, a 24-hour wake will be held for Pele in the center of the field at the stadium of Santos, his hometown club where he started playing as a teenager and quickly rose to fame.

The next day, a procession carrying his coffin will pass through the streets of Santos, passing the neighborhood where his 100-year-old mother lives, and ending at the Ecumenical Memorial Necropolis cemetery, where he will be buried in a private ceremony.

‘WHAT IS POSSIBLE’

U.S. President Joe Biden said on his Twitter that Pele’s rise from humble beginnings to soccer legend was a story of “what is possible.”

Pele, whose given name was Edson Arantes do Nascimento, joined Santos in 1956 and turned the small coastal club into one of the most famous names in football.

[1/4] Legendary Brazilian soccer player Pele waves to the spectators before the start of the under-17 boys’ final soccer match of the Subroto Cup tournament at Ambedkar stadium in New Delhi, India, October 16, 2015. REUTERS/Anindito Mukherjee

In addition to a host of regional and national titles, Pele won two Copa Libertadores, the South American equivalent of the Champions League, and two Intercontinental Cups, the annual tournament held between the best teams in Europe and South America.

He took home three World Cup winner’s medals, the first time as a 17-year-old in Sweden in 1958, the second in Chile four years later – even though he missed most of the tournament through injury – and the third in Mexico in 1970, when he led what is considered to be one of the greatest sides ever to play the game.

He retired from Santos in 1974 but a year later made a surprise comeback by signing a lucrative deal to join the New York Cosmos in the then nascent North American Soccer League.

In a glorious 21-year career he scored between 1,281 and 1,283 goals, depending on how matches are counted.

Pele, though, transcended soccer, like no player before or since, and he became one of the first global icons of the 20th century.

With his winning smile and an aw-shucks humility that charmed legions of fans, he was better known than many Hollywood stars, popes or presidents – many if not most of whom he met during a six-decade-long career as player and corporate pitchman.

“I am sad, but I am also proud to be Brazilian, to be from Pele’s country, a guy who was a great athlete,” said Ciro Campos, a 49-year-old biologist in Rio de Janeiro. “And also off the field, he was a cool person, not an arrogant athlete.”

Pele credited his one-of-a-kind mix of talent, creative genius and technical skill to a youth spent playing pick-up games in small-town Brazil, often using grapefruit or wadded-up rags because his family could not afford a real ball.

Pele was named “Athlete of the Century” by the International Olympic Committee, co-“Football Player of the Century” by world soccer body FIFA, and a “national treasure” by Brazil’s government.

His celebrity was often overwhelming. Grown adults broke down crying in his presence with regularity. When he was a player, souvenir-seeking fans rushed the field following games and tore off his shorts, socks and even underwear.

His house in Brazil was less than a mile from a beach, but he didn’t go there for some two decades because of fear of crowds.

Yet even in unguarded moments among friends, he rarely complained. He believed that his talent was a divine gift, and he spoke movingly about how soccer allowed him to travel the world, bring cheer to cancer patients and survivors of wars and famine, and provide for a family that, growing up, often did not know the source of their next meal.

“God gave me this ability for one reason: To make people happy,” he said during a 2013 interview with Reuters. “No matter what I did, I tried not to forget that.”

Brazil’s CBF soccer federation said “Pele was much more than the greatest sportsman of all time… The King of Soccer was the ultimate exponent of a victorious Brazil.”

Kylian Mbappé, the French star many view as the current best soccer player in the world, also offered his condolences.

“The king of football has left us but his legacy will never be forgotten,” he wrote on Twitter. “RIP KING.”

Reporting by Andrew Downie and Gabriel Araujo; Additional reporting by Peter Frontini, Carolina Pulice and Sergio Queiroz; Editing by Gabriel Stargardter, Daniel Wallis and Rosalba O’Brien

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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US

Slipping over Mexico border, migrants get the jump on U.S. court ruling

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CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico Dec 28 (Reuters) – Even before the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday opted to keep in place a measure aimed at deterring border crossings, hundreds of migrants in northern Mexico were taking matters into their own hands to slip into the United States.

The contentious pandemic-era measure known as Title 42 had been due to expire on Dec. 21, but last-minute legal stays pitched border policy into limbo and made many migrants decide they had little to lose by crossing anyway.

After spending days in chilly border cities, groups of migrants from Venezuela and other countries targeted by Title 42 opted to make a run for it rather than sit out the uncertainty of the legal tug-of-war playing out in U.S. courts.

“We ran, and we hid, until we managed to make it,” said Jhonatan, a Venezuelan migrant who scrambled across the border from the Mexican city of Ciudad Juarez into El Paso, Texas with his wife and five children, aged 3 to 16, on Monday night.

Giving only his first name and speaking by phone, Jhonatan said he had already spent several months in Mexico and had not wanted to enter the United States illegally.

But the thought of failing after a journey that took his family through the perilous jungles of Darien in Panama, up Central America and into Mexico was more than he could bear.

“It would be the last straw to get here, and then they send us back to Venezuela,” he told Reuters.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court granted a request by a group of Republican state attorneys general to put on hold a judge’s decision invalidating Title 42. They had argued its removal would increase border crossings.

The court said it would hear arguments on whether the states could intervene to defend Title 42 during its February session. A ruling is expected by the end of June.

[1/3] Migrants run to hide from the U.S. Border Patrol and Texas State Troopers after crossing into the United States from Mexico, in El Paso, Texas, U.S., December 23, 2022. REUTERS/Jose Luis Gonzalez

Reuters images showed migrants racing across a busy highway alongside the border last week, one man barefoot and carrying a small child – the kind of risky crossing that alarms migrant advocates.

“We’re talking about people who come to request asylum … and they’re still crossing the border in very dangerous ways,” said Fernando Garcia, director of the Border Network for Human Rights.

John Martin, the deputy director at El Paso’s Opportunity Center for the Homeless, said the number of migrants his shelter has taken in are increasingly people who crossed illegally, including many Venezuelans.

“At one point, the majority were documented; now I’m seeing it reverse,” he said.

The agency’s El Paso sector was registering about 2,500 daily migrant encounters in mid-December, but the number dipped through Christmas to just over half that by the time of the court decision, CBP figures show.

On Tuesday before the Supreme Court ruling, a Venezuelan migrant in Ciudad Juarez who gave his name as Antonio said he was waiting to see whether U.S. border surveillance would let up, hoping to make money in the United States to send home.

“If they don’t end Title 42,” he said, “we’re going to keep entering illegally.”

Elsewhere along the border, other migrants said they felt they had run out of options.

“We don’t have a future in Mexico,” said Cesar, a Venezuelan migrant in Tijuana who did not give his last name, explaining why he has attempted once to cross the border fence to get into the United States, and plans to try again.

Reporting by Daina Beth Solomon in Mexico City and Jose Luis Gonzalez in Ciudad Juarez; Additional reporting by Lizbeth Diaz and Ted Hesson; Editing by Dave Graham and Gerry Doyle

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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World

Peru explodes into fiery protest as anger over political crises ignites

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LIMA, Dec 13 (Reuters) – As Peru careers from one political crisis to another, the country has exploded in protest, with at least seven dead in the last week and the smoke of fires and tear gas hanging over city streets. A way out seems distant.

The spark of the current unrest was the ouster and arrest of leftist leader Pedro Castillo after he tried to dissolve Congress illegally. It followed a months-long standoff where lawmakers impeached him three times, the final time removing him from office.

Peru has been one of the economic stars of Latin America in the 21st century, with strong growth lifting millions out of poverty. But the political turmoil is increasingly threatening to derail its economic stability, with ratings agencies warning of downgrades, blockades impacting major mines in the world’s no. 2 copper producer, and protesters demanding Congress and new president Dina Boluarte step down.

For those watching closely it should be little surprise. Voters are fed up with the constant political infighting that has seen six presidents in the last five years and seven impeachment attempts.

The heavily fragmented unicameral Congress is loathed – with an approval rating of just 11%, according to pollster Datum. That is below Castillo’s, which despite a string of corruption allegations was 24% just before he was removed.

“The Peruvian people are just exhausted from all the political machinations, the crime, uncertainty and stalling growth,” said Eric Farnsworth, a vice president at the Council of the Americas and Americas Society.

He said Boluarte’s pledge to hold early elections in April 2024 could help calm things in the short run, but that would not solve entrenched issues of a divided electorate and infighting between the presidency and Congress.

“It’s a toxic soup, with a weak president, a dysfunctional Congress, the deposed president seeking to generate a popular resistance to his legitimate removal, an agitated populace, and little vision from anyone on how to get out of this mess.”

Peru’s constitution makes it relatively easy for an unhappy legislature to initiate an impeachment, while a lack of dominant political parties – the largest, Popular Force, controls just 24 of 130 seats – means agreement is thin on the ground. Corruption has also been a frequent problem.

The only way many Peruvians feel they can make their voices heard is in the street. In recent days, protesters have blocked roads, set fires, and even taken over airports. Police have come under criticism from human rights groups for use of firearms and teargas. At leave seven people, mostly teenagers, have died.

There are echoes of protests in 2020, when thousands took to the streets after the impeachment and ouster of popular centrist leader Martin Vizcarra, who was succeeded by Congress leader Manuel Merino. After two died he also was forced to resign.

Castillo, less popular but with a support base in rural regions that helped him to a narrow election win last year, has looked to stoke things from jail, where he is being held while he is investigated over accusations of rebellion and conspiracy.

On Monday, he called Boluarte, his former vice president, a “usurper” in a written letter to the Peruvian people where he claimed to still be the country’s legitimate leader.

“What was said recently by a usurper is nothing more than the same snot and drool of the coup-mongering right,” he wrote, adding a call – long popular among a younger generation of Peruvians – for a new constitution.

“The people should not fall for their dirty games of new elections. Enough abuse! A Constituent Assembly now! Immediate freedom!” he wrote.

Boluarte, a former member of Castillo’s far-left party who fell out with its leader and criticized Castillo after his attempt to dissolve Congress, has called for calm around the country and pledged a government of all stripes. But she faces a tough reality, caught between protesters and a hostile parliament.

With the recent history of Peruvian leaders littered with impeachment and jail, it is questionable whether Boluarte can hang on until new elections are held.

“Dina Boluarte is a murderer. Five people have died, and they say nothing. Nothing matters to her, she is shameless, treacherous,” said Guadalupe Huaman, a Castillo supporter protesting with a Peruvian flag and hard hat in Lima.

Cutting Peru’s outlook to negative and threatening a potential downgrade, ratings agency S&P said in a report on Monday that there seemed to be little to be hopeful about.

“The way Peru’s most recent change in power occurred reflects heightened political deadlock, and it increases risks ahead,” it said.

Farnsworth voiced similar concerns. While Peru had a history of volatile politics, it was unclear how things would resolve this time, he said.

“I think this time is somehow different,” he said. “There is no real path forward it seems.”

Reporting by Marco Aquino and Adam Jourdan, Editing by Rosalba O’Brien

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Adam Jourdan

Thomson Reuters

Regional bureau chief in South Latin America with previous experience leading corporate news coverage in China and as an independent film director and producer.

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World

Supporters of Brazil’s defeated Bolsonaro attack police headquarters

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BRASILIA, Dec 12 (Reuters) – Supporters of far-right Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Monday attempted to invade the federal police headquarters in the capital Brasilia, in a flash of post-election violence on the day the president’s electoral defeat was certified.

Reuters witnesses saw Bolsonaro supporters, many in their trademark yellow national soccer jerseys or draped in Brazilian flags, confronting security forces at police headquarters. Police fired stun grenades and tear gas to disperse the crowd. Nearby buses and cars were set on fire.

Federal police said “disturbances” near the headquarters were being handled with support from capital security forces.

The violence unfolded after a Bolsonaro supporter was detained for allegedly organizing violent “anti-democratic acts,” according to the judge who ordered his arrest.

Earlier on Monday, the federal electoral court (TSE) certified the Oct. 30 election victory of Bolsonaro’s leftist rival, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, as president. After months of baseless suggestions that Brazil’s voting system is vulnerable to fraud, Bolsonaro has neither conceded defeat to Lula nor has he formally blocked the handover of power.

But some of the president’s most diehard supporters have blocked highways in protest and camped out in front of army barracks, calling for a military coup to bar Lula from office.

Hundreds of Bolsonaro supporters gathered outside the presidential residence on Monday afternoon with banners calling for “military intervention.” The president joined them for a public prayer but did not address the crowd.

“There’s not going to be an inauguration,” said Jose Trindade, 58, one of the Bolsonaro supporters in the crowd. “Bolsonaro was re-elected, but they stole it. So only the army can put things in order.”

The conspiracy theories and subsequent violence have rekindled memories of the January 2021 invasion of the U.S. Capitol by supporters of former U.S. President Donald Trump. It also raises security concerns about Jan. 1, when Lula takes office in a public ceremony in Brasilia.

Senator Randolfe Rodrigues, a key Lula aide, said there were concerns about the physical safety of Lula and Vice President-elect Geraldo Alckmin, as protesters had surrounded the hotel where he is staying in Brasilia. Lula’s team denied reports that Lula would be removed from the hotel by helicopter.

[1/13] A bus is seen on fire as supporters of Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro protest after supreme court justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered a temporary arrest warrant of indigenous leader Jose Acacio Serere Xavante for alleged anti-democratic acts, in Brasilia, Brazil, December 12, 2022. REUTERS/Adriano Machado

Brasilia’s public security officials said they had secured the area around Lula’s hotel, and urged motorists to avoid the center of the city where many roads had been closed.

SPARKED BY ARREST

The violence in Brasilia came after Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who has led probes into Bolsonaro and his allies, on Monday ordered the temporary arrest of José Acácio Serere Xavante for allegedly carrying out anti-democratic acts.

Xavante, an indigenous leader, is among the Bolsonaro supporters who have protested in defiance of the Oct. 30 election result.

“I cannot accept criminals reigning in Brasil,” Xavante tweeted last month. “Lula cannot be certified.”

Last week, Bolsonaro broke weeks of post-election silence to say that his situation “hurts my soul.”

“Who decides where I go are you. Who decides which way the armed forces go are you,” Bolsonaro told his supporters at the gates of the presidential residence on Friday.

In a statement, the Supreme Court said Moraes “decreed the temporary arrest, for 10 days, of the indigenous José Acácio Serere Xavante, due to evidence of the commission of crimes of threat, persecution and violent abolition of the Democratic State of Law.”

It said Xavante had led protests across Brasilia and had used “his position as chief of the Xavante people to enlist indigenous and non-indigenous people to commit crimes,” threatening Lula and Supreme Court justices.

Xavante had “expressly summoned armed people to prevent the certification of elected” politicians, the statement added.

Reporting by Ueslei Marcelino and Victor Borges; Additional reporting by Maria Carolina Marcello and Carolina Pulice; Editing by Leslie Adler and Stephen Coates

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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World

‘It hurts my soul’: Brazil’s Bolsonaro ends post-election silence

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BRASILIA, Dec 9 (Reuters) – Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro broke his silence on Friday for the first time since his election defeat on Oct. 30 and spoke to supporters calling for a military coup to stop leftist President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva taking office.

Bolsonaro said he had kept silent for almost 40 days, adding, “it hurts my soul.”

“Who decides where I go are you. Who decides which way the armed forces go are you,” Bolsonaro told his supporters at the gates of the presidential residence.

In his ambiguous comments, Bolsonaro did not endorse their call for a military intervention, but said the armed forces would respect Brazil’s Constitution.

He has not recognized Lula’s victory in the October elections and his silence encouraged supporters to continue demonstrations outside army bases.

Lula’s narrow victory over Bolsonaro will be certified by Brazil’s national electoral authority on Monday.

Bolsonaro told his supporters that the armed forces were Brazil’s bulwark to prevent socialism in the country, adding that “nothing is lost” and their cause would prevail one day.

“The Armed Forces are united. They owe loyalty to our people and respect to the constitution, and they are responsible for our freedom”, he said.

“Unlike other people, we are going to win,” he said.

Reporting by Ricardo Brito; Writing by Carolina Pulice; Editing by Bill Berkrot

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World

LATAM Airlines plane crashes on Peruvian runway, two firefighters dead

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LIMA, Nov 18 (Reuters) – A LATAM Airlines (LTM.SN) jet collided with a firetruck on the runway of Peru’s Jorge Chavez International Airport as it was taking off on Friday, the carrier said, resulting in the death of two firefighters.

No passengers or flight crew members were killed in the incident, the airline said.

It remains unclear why the firetruck entered the runway while the plane was taking off and the prosecutors’ office said it was investigating the incident as potential manslaughter.

Video posted on social media showed the jet colliding with the firetruck as it careened down the runway, then rapidly catching fire and smoking heavily as it ground to a halt.

Lima Airport Partners, which operates Jorge Chavez in Lima, the nation’s most important airport, said the airport will remain closed at least through 1 p.m. local time on Saturday.

The flight was LA2213, covering the domestic Lima-Juliaca route, LATAM Airlines said.

This is the second incident in less than a month involving LATAM Airlines, after one of its planes had its nose destroyed during a severe storm that forced it to make an emergency landing.

Reporting by Marco Aquino in Lima, additional reporting by Fabian Cambero in Santiago, Marcelo Rochabrun in Lima and Carolina Pulice in Mexico City; Editing by Anthony Esposito, Rosalba O’Brien and Matthew Lewis

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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World

Biden and Xi to meet ahead of G20

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NUSA DUA, Indonesia, Nov 14 (Reuters) – Chinese leader Xi Jinping will arrive on the Indonesian island of Bali on Monday for a long-awaited meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden, ahead of a Group of 20 (G20) summit set to be fraught with tension over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The two leaders are expected to discuss Taiwan, Ukraine and North Korea’s nuclear ambitions, issues that will also loom over the G20 that opens on Tuesday without Russian President Vladimir Putin in attendance.

Billionaire Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) and Twitter Inc, addressed a business forum that is part of the summit and said he had “too much work” on his plate.

Speaking by videolink, he appeared lit by candles, wearing a batik shirt sent by the organisers. He said he was speaking from a place that had just lost power.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will represent the Russian president at the G20 summit – the first since Russia invaded Ukraine in February – after the Kremlin said Putin was too busy to attend.

On the eve of Monday’s meeting with Xi, Biden told Asian leaders in Cambodia that U.S. communication lines with China would stay open to prevent conflict, with tough talks almost certain in the days ahead.

The United States would “compete vigorously” with China while “ensuring competition does not veer into conflict”, said Biden, stressing the importance of peace in the Taiwan Strait during an address to the East Asia Summit in Cambodia. He arrived in Bali on Sunday night.

Relations between the superpowers have sunk to their lowest in decades, marred by growing tensions in recent years over a host of issues ranging from Hong Kong and Taiwan to the South China Sea, trade practices and U.S. restrictions on Chinese technology.

But U.S. officials said there have been quiet efforts by both Beijing and Washington over the past two months to repair ties.

“These meetings do not take place in isolation, they are part of a very sustained process,” said one Biden administration official. “We have engaged in serious, sustained – dozens and dozens of hours – of quiet diplomacy behind the scenes.

“I think we are satisfied with the seriousness that both sides have brought to that process.”

Biden and Xi, who have held five phone or video calls since Biden became president in January 2021, last met in person during the Obama administration when Biden was vice president.

Monday’s face-to-face meeting will be at The Mulia, a luxury beachside hotel on Nusa Dua bay in Bali. It is unlikely to produce a joint statement, the White House has said, but it could help stabilise the bilateral relationship.

Both leaders will attend the opening of the G20 summit on Tuesday.

‘SOME DISCOMFORT’

One of the main topics at the G20 will be Russia’s war in Ukraine and Biden will be “unapologetic” in his defence of the European nation, U.S. officials said last week.

Xi and Putin have grown increasingly close in recent years, bound by their shared distrust of the West, and reaffirmed their partnership just days before Russia invaded Ukraine. But China has been careful not to provide any direct material support that could trigger Western sanctions against it.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang emphasised the “irresponsibility” of nuclear threats during the summit in Cambodia, suggesting China was uncomfortable with strategic partner Russia’s nuclear rhetoric, the Biden administration official said.

The West has accused Russia of making irresponsible statements on the possible use of nuclear weapons since its February invasion of Ukraine. Russia has in turn accused the West of “provocative” nuclear rhetoric.

“There have been areas where China and Russia have worked together to deepen and broaden their relationship economically,” said the U.S. official. “But on some of these big issues, I think there is undeniably some discomfort in Beijing about what we’ve seen in terms of reckless rhetoric and activity on the part of Russia.”

Russia’s Lavrov said on Sunday the West was “militarising” Southeast Asia in a bid to contain Russian and Chinese interests, setting the stage for more confrontation with Western leaders at the G20.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said he will address the G20 gathering by videolink on Tuesday.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is expected to meet Lavrov at the summit, a Downing Street spokesperson said in a statement. He is also likely to hold a bilateral meeting with Biden.

The G20 bloc, which includes a broad array of countries ranging from Brazil to India and Germany, accounts for more than 80% of the world’s gross domestic product (GDP) and 60% of its population.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is due to join Indonesian President Joko Widodo to address the parallel B20 business forum taking place on Monday ahead of the G20 summit.

Reporting by Nandita Bose, Fransiska Nangoy, Leika Kihara and Simon Lewis in Nusa Dua; Writing by Kay Johnson and Raju Gopalakrishnan; Editing by Ed Davies and Robert Birsel

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