Brasilia –
Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was officially sworn in as President of Brazil on Sunday (01/01), a position he held from 2003 to 2010.
The 77-year-old secured a third term after defeating far-right incumbent Jair Bolsonaro in October 2022 in the closest presidential election in decades.
Lula’s promise to Brazil
Taking the oath, Lula vowed to “defend and obey the constitution” and pledged to “save” 33 million people from hunger and 100 million from poverty, nearly half of the country’s 215 million people.
Lula has said he will rebuild Brazil from the “ruins” left by the previous government, without naming Bolsonaro.
“From these terrible ruins, together with the people of Brazil, I have the responsibility to rebuild it and make it a country for all,” he added.
Lula has criticized Bolsonaro’s government, saying his transition team has described the country’s public finances as being in “terrible” shape.
“They (the previous government) have drained the resources of the Ministry of Health. They have destroyed education, culture, science and technology. They have destroyed environmental protection. They have spared no resources for school meals, vaccinations or public safety,” Lula said.
Lula also accused the Bolsonaro government of committing “genocide” for failing to properly handle the COVID-19 pandemic, which has killed more than 680,000 people in Brazil.
Additionally, Lula also told his supporters that Brazil no longer needed to clear the Amazon rainforest for agriculture, which was Lula’s main criticism of the Bolsonaro government.
Lula believes that no other country can match Brazil’s resources to become a country of great environmental power.
Bolsonaro missed the inauguration
Delegates from 50 countries attended Lula’s swearing-in ceremony held at the Congress in Brasilia, the capital of Brazil. These included German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, King Felipe IV of Spain, the presidents of Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay and Portugal.
However, President Bolsonaro, who is about to leave office, was not present, having left for Florida on Friday (12/30).
Following the unveiling ceremony, Lula then left for Palazzo Planalto in an open Rolls-Royce to don the presidential sash in front of 30,000 Labor Party supporters.
Bolsonaro has repeatedly refused to fit his successor’s armband, as per tradition, so the proof has been replaced by a black sweeper, Aline Sousa.
Security has been strengthened to anticipate threats
Security across the capital has been tightened in anticipation of violence by Bolsonaro supporters.
Bolsonaro has previously denied losing, saying he has doubts about the country’s electronic voting system. Bolsonaro lost to Lula by less than 2% of the vote.
Some of Bolsonaro’s more extremist supporters have even called for a military coup to keep the far-right leader in power.
On the eve of Lula’s inauguration, police said they arrested a man who tried to enter the inauguration grounds with a knife and fireworks. Last week, a Bolsonaro supporter was arrested for planting explosives on a tanker truck near Brasilia airport.
gtp/ha (AFP, AP, EFE, Reuters)
Watch the video “Remembering Pelé, President Lula da Silva holds a moment of silence at the inauguration”:
(nvc/nvc)
