UPDATE - Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro hospitalized in US: Wife

UPDATES HEADLINE, ADDS DETAILS THROUGHOUT

By Bala Chambers

BUENOS AIRES (AA) - Former Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro has been hospitalized in the US with abdominal pain, his wife confirmed Monday.

Michelle Bolsonaro said on Instagram that her husband is "under observation at the hospital due to abdominal discomfort."

She went on to say it related to the stabbing incident that Bolsonaro suffered in 2018.

"We are praying for his health and for Brazil. God bless us," she added in her Instagram story.

Earlier in the day, a local report said that Bolsonaro was admitted to the AdventHealth Celebration hospital in Orlando.

The former leader had felt discomfort around his intestines and was expected to undergo medical examinations, according to Brazilian news outlet Poder360. Since 2018 when he was stabbed, the far-right politician has been hospitalized at least six times.

Bolsonaro's admission follows Sunday's raids in which hundreds of supporters of the far-right president stormed and ransacked the legislative chambers of the capital Brasilia, including the presidency, Congress and Supreme Court.

Security forces managed to regain control later Sunday, with Lula implementing a Federal intervention, allowing the armed forces to contain Bolsonaro supporters.

Some 1,200 protestors have been arrested in connection to the incident while pro-Bolsonaro camps set up by his supporters are being dismantled in at least six states and the Federal District - with the order given by the Minister of Brazil's Federal Supreme Court (STF), Alexandre de Moraes.

The Supreme Court has also removed Governor of the Federal District Ibaneis Rocha from office for three months after the unrest at government buildings in Brasilia.

On Sunday, Lula alleged that the far-right politician had encouraged such actions in a number of his speeches.

However, Bolsonaro rejected accusations being leveled against him "without evidence, attributed to me by the current head of the executive of Brazil".

Bolsonaro insisted in a tweet that "peaceful demonstrations, in the form of the law, are part of democracy. However, depredations and invasions of public buildings as occurred today, as well as those practiced by the left in 2013 and 2017” are not within the rules.

The former Brazilian leader underscored that "throughout my mandate, I was always (operating) within the four lines of the Constitution, respecting and defending the laws, democracy, transparency and our sacred freedom.”

Bolsonaro left Brazil two days prior to the Jan. 1 inauguration of Lula for a third term as president.