Lula complains about Bolsonaro’s “disastrous” legacy

Brasilia. Lula da Silva He was sworn in yesterday for the third time as president of Brazil, in a ceremony in the Brasilia Congress marked by the absence of his predecessor, the far-right Jair Bolsonaro.

Exactly 20 years after coming to power for the first time, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, 77, was proclaimed president along with his vice president, Geraldo Alckmin, by pronouncing their “constitutional commitment.”

The ceremony began with a minute’s silence in memory of former Brazilian star Pelé and Benedict XVI, both of whom died this week.

In Congress, Lula arrived with the traditional Rolls Royce black convertible next to first lady “Janja” to the cheers of his supporters, some of them with tears in their eyes.

Contrary to tradition, his predecessor was absent. Bolsonaro traveled to the United States on Friday, two days before the end of his government term.

“The diagnosis we received from the transitional government is disastrous. They emptied health resources, dismantled education, culture, science and technology, destroyed environmental protection,” Lula said in his first speech after his inauguration in the Congress.

“It is not necessary to cut down any more trees”, it is enough “to replant the 30 million hectares of degraded land, it is possible to live without cutting down wood, without fires, without invading our biomes,” said Lula.

The leftist was surrounded by twenty heads of state, the largest number for a takeover in Brazil.

Among these are the leaders of Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Honduras and Uruguay, as well as the King of Spain, Felipe VI.

Washington sent Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, the first indigenous woman to form a cabinet in the United States and a harsh critic of Bolsonaro, while Vice President Wang Qishan attended from China.

For the first time since 1985, an outgoing president did not pass the presidential sash, an act that took place after the ceremony in Congress, at the Planalto Palace.

strong security

The ceremony has an unprecedented security device, with up to 8,000 mobilized police officers.

The brazilian police arrested this Sunday a man who was trying to enter the area of ​​the Esplanade of the Ministries where the institutions are located carrying a knife and fireworks.

Preparations for the inauguration had been shaken after the arrest of a Bolsonaro member who planted an explosive near the Brasilia airport to “cause chaos”, provoke the declaration of a state of siege and thus prevent the inauguration, according to his own statement. confession.