Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was sworn in as Brazil’s president on Sunday, delivering a searing indictment of far-right former leader Jair Bolsonaro and vowing a drastic change in fact to rescue a nation affected by hunger, poverty and racism.
In a speech to Congress after officially taking the reins of Latin America’s biggest country, the leftist said democracy was the true winner of the October presidential vote, when he ousted Bolsonaro in probably the most fraught election for a generation.
Bolsonaro, who left Brazil for the US on Friday after refusing to concede defeat, rattled the cages of Brazil’s young democracy with baseless claims of electoral weaknesses that birthed a violent movement of election deniers.
“Democracy was the nice victor on this election, overcoming … probably the most violent threats to freedom to vote, and probably the most abject campaign of lies and hate plotted to control and embarrass the electorate,” Lula told lawmakers.
Lula, who was behind bars during Bolsonaro’s 2019 inauguration on graft convictions that were later overturned, delivered a veiled threat to his predecessor.
“We don’t carry any spirit of revenge against those that tried to subjugate the nation to their personal and ideological designs, but we’ll guarantee the rule of law,” Lula said, without mentioning Bolsonaro by name. “Those that erred will answer for his or her errors.”
He also accused Bolsonaro’s administration of committing “genocide” by failing to reply properly to the COVID-19 virus that killed greater than 680,000 Brazilians.
“The responsibilities for this genocide should be investigated and must not go unpunished,” he said.
Although Bolsonaro’s Florida trip insulates him from any immediate legal jeopardy in Brazil, he now faces mounting judicial risks – related to his anti-democratic rhetoric and his pandemic handling – after losing his presidential immunity, legal experts said.
Lula’s plans for presidency provided a stark contrast to Bolsonaro’s 4 years in office, which were characterised by backsliding on environmental protections within the Amazon rainforest, looser gun laws and weaker protections for indigenous peoples and minorities.
Lula said he desires to turn Brazil, one in every of the world’s top food producers, right into a green superpower.
US SUPPORT
In his first decisions as president, Lula restored the authority of the federal government’s environmental protection agency Ibama to combat illegal deforestation, which had been diluted by Bolsonaro, and revoked a measure that encouraged illegal mining on protected indigenous lands.
He also unfroze the billion-dollar Amazon fund financed by Norway and Germany to back sustainability projects, reinforcing his commitment to ending deforestation within the Amazon, which surged to a 15-year high under Bolsonaro.
The administration of US President Joe Biden, who shared little in common with Bolsonaro and chafed at his lackluster environmental policies, wished Lula and his Vice President Geraldo Alckmin success.
“We stay up for continuing the strong US-Brazil partnership in trade, security, sustainability, innovation, and inclusion,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken tweeted. “Here’s to a shiny future for our countries – and the world.”
King Charles of Britain congratulated Lula on his return to office in a letter wherein he offered to deepen cooperation with Brazil, especially on the environment.
“I used to be encouraged to listen to you emphasize the urgent must tackle the climate crisis in your victory speech and at COP27,” the king wrote within the letter disclosed by the British embassy.
After the swearing-in, Lula drove in an open-top Rolls-Royce to the Planalto palace, where he walked up its ramp together with his wife and a various group that included Chief Raoni Metuktire of the Kayapó tribe, a young Black boy, a cook and a disabled man.
Lula was then handed the presidential sash – a hugely symbolic act in Brazil that Bolsonaro had repeatedly said he would never do – by Aline Sousa, a Black garbage collector.
Tens of hundreds who had gathered to rejoice on Brasilia’s esplanade cheered as Lula wiped away tears.
In a subsequent speech, he pledged to unite the polarized country and govern for all Brazilians.
“There are usually not two Brazils,” Lula said. “We’re one country, one great nation.”
Lula said he could be fiscally prudent, but made clear his primary focus could be on ending hunger and narrowing rampant inequality. He also said he goals to enhance the rights of girls, and attack racism and Brazil’s legacy of slavery.
“This shall be the hallmark of our government,” he said.
Allies said Lula’s new-found social conscience was the results of his 580 days in prison, Reuters reported on Sunday.
TIGHT SECURITY
In his initial decrees, Lula revoked Bolsonaro’s looser gun policies, which had prompted a pointy rise in gun ownership.
“Brazil doesn’t want more weapons, it wants peace and security for its people,” he said.
Lula’s inauguration took place amid heightened security.
A few of Bolsonaro’s supporters have claimed the election was stolen and called for a military coup to stop Lula returning to office in a climate of vandalism and violence.
On Christmas Eve, a Bolsonaro supporter was arrested for making a bomb that was discovered on a truck laden with aviation fuel at the doorway to Brasilia airport, and confessed he was looking for to impress a military intervention.
Bolsonaro has seen his support amongst many former allies evaporate resulting from the anti-democratic protests.
On Saturday night, then-acting President Hamilton Mourao, who was Bolsonaro’s vice chairman, criticized his former boss for allowing anti-democratic sentiment to thrive post-election.
“Leaders who were presupposed to reassure and unite the nation … allowed silence or inopportune and deleterious protagonism to create an environment of chaos and social disintegration,” Mourao said.
Lula’s election victory marked a shocking political comeback, giving him an unprecedented third term after a hiatus that saw him spend a year-and-a-half behind bars.
In his previous two terms as president from 2003-2010, the previous union leader lifted tens of millions of Brazilians from poverty during a commodity boom that buoyed the economy.
Now, he faces the daunting challenge of improving Brazil’s stagnant economy while also uniting a divided country.
“So much is anticipated of Lula,” said Creomar de Souza, director of Dharma Political Risk consultancy in Brasilia. “He’ll have the difficult mission to revive normality and predictability in Brazil, and above all to rapidly deliver results that improve the standard of life for its inhabitants.”