Leftist leader Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva took office as Brazil’s president this Sunday in the country’s Congress, beginning his third presidency, under tight security in the Brazilian capital after threats of violence from his predecessor’s supporters far right, Jair Bolsonaro.
The congressional ceremony began at 15:00 local time (1800 GMT) and now Lula will travel to Palazzo Planalto to don the presidential sash in front of a crowd of 30,000 supporters. while around 300,000 people are expected to celebrate on the Brasilia esplanade.
In his first speech as president, Lula da Silva highlighted democracy as the value that prevailed in his triumph: “It has been demonstrated that it is possible to govern this country with the widest social participation, including the working people and the poorest in the budget and in government decisions,” he said.
And he added: “It has been demonstrated that a representative of the working class can dialogue with society to promote economic growth in a sustainable way and to the benefit of all, especially the neediest”.
Then he warned: “The diagnosis we received from the Transitional Cabinet is terrible. Healthcare resources have been emptied. They have dismantled education, culture, science and technology. They destroyed environmental protection. They have left no resources for the school canteen, vaccinations, public safety.
He announced that the first government interventions will be targeted “Save 33 million people from hunger and save more than 100 million Brazilians out of poverty who have borne the heaviest burden of the national destruction project that concludes today.”
Lula’s challenges
Lula, 77, narrowly defeated Bolsonaro in October to win an unprecedented third presidential term after a hiatus that saw him spend a year and a half in prison on later overturned corruption convictions.
In his previous years as president of the Workers’ Party (PT), from 2003 to 2010, the former union leader lifted millions of Brazilians out of poverty during a goods boom that boosted the economy.
Now he faces the daunting challenge of improving Brazil’s sluggish economy by uniting a country that has become painfully polarized under Bolsonaro.
“Much is expected of Lula. He will have the difficult mission of restoring normality and predictability to Brazil and, above all, to quickly deliver results that improve the quality of life of its inhabitants,” said Creomar de Souza, director of the company of Dharma Political Risk consultancy in Brasilia.
internal division
Bolsonaro left Brazil on Friday for Florida, avoiding having to hand over the armband to his rival, whose victory he has yet to acknowledge, removing himself from any immediate legal risk associated with his mandate.
His supporters have protested for two months because the election was stolen and have called for a military coup to prevent Lula from returning to power in a climate of vandalism and violence.
A supporter was arrested for making a bomb discovered in a truck loaded with jet fuel at the entrance to Brasilia airport, and confessed he was trying to wreak havoc to provoke a military intervention.
Authorities have deployed 10,000 police officers and troops to tighten security during Sunday celebrations and control attendees, who cannot bring bottles, cans, flagpoles or toy guns. The carrying of firearms by civilians was also temporarily banned.
Organizers said delegations from 50 nations and 19 heads of state and government, including the King of Spain, had confirmed their presence.
Before flying to Florida on Friday, Bolsonaro delivered an address to the nation in which he condemned the plot as a “terrorist act” but praised protesters camped outside army barracks across the country.
