Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva took office on Sunday for his third term as Brazil’s president, in a ceremony led by leader Jair Bolsonaro, reflecting the deep legacy leftist veterans have inherited.
The 77-year-old former metal worker, who previously led Brazil from 2003 to 2010, took the oath of office before Congress, vowing to “protect, defend and obey the constitution” as he returns to lead Latin America’s biggest economy after a bitter. divisive election in October.
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Lula wore a blue suit and tie for the swearing-in, which began with a minute’s silence for Brazilian soccer legend Pele and former Pope Benedict XVI, who both died within days.
It capped a remarkable political comeback for Lula, who returned to the presidential palace less than five years after his prison term on controversial corruption charges has since been overturned.
In a sign of the scars that remain from Lula’s brutal election battle with former right-wing army captain Bolsonaro in October, security was tight during the packed ceremony in Brasilia.
About 8,000 police were deployed, after Bolsonaro supporters were arrested last week for planting a tanker truck with explosives near the capital’s airport, a plot they said was to “spread chaos” in the South American country.
Police said they arrested another man on Sunday who tried to enter the inauguration ceremony area with a knife and fireworks.
Bolsonaro himself left Brazil for the state of Florida on Friday – reportedly to avoid handing over the presidential belt to a bitter enemy, as tradition dictates.
The snub did little to dampen the party spirit for Lula and the tens of thousands who turned out for New Year’s ceremonies and massive celebratory concerts featuring acts ranging from samba legend Martinho da Vila to drag queen Pabllo Vittar.
Thousands of Lula supporters from around the country formed a large line to filter through the security cordon, belting out pro-Lula chants.
“I’m very excited,” retired teacher Zenia Maria Soares Pinto, 71, told AFP after a 30-hour bus journey from the southern state of Santa Catarina.
“I really like his humility, his commitment to ensure people live with dignity,” added Pinto, part of a crowd cheering Lula outside the hotel where the new president spent the night.
Machine operator Valter Gildo, 46, called it a “historic day.”
“Today marks the return of working people to the presidential palace, people who fight for social causes, for minorities, against racism and homophobia, people who represent Brazil,” he said.
Foreign dignitaries including 19 heads of state attended as Lula, who previously led Brazil through the DAS boom from 2003 to 2010, took the oath of office for a new four-year term.
They include the presidents of a raft of Latin American countries, Germany, Portugal and the king of Spain.
After being sworn in before Congress, Lula will move to the capital’s ultra-modern presidential palace, Planalto.
There, he will walk up the ramp to the door and receive the gold and diamond embroidered presidential belt.
The organizers of the ceremony – led by the future first lady Rosangela “Janja” da Silva – made no secret of who will give Lula the belt in Bolsonaro’s absence.
It will be the first time since the end of Brazil’s 1965-1985 military dictatorship that the incoming president will not receive the yellow and green belts from his predecessors.
Hitting the to-do list
Lula faces many significant challenges in the Latin American giant, which looked like the commodity-fueled dynamo he led in the 2000s.
These include rebooting economic growth, halting the destruction of the Amazon rainforest and delivering an ambitious agenda to fight poverty and inequality.
Meanwhile, markets are nervously watching how Lula will fund his promised social spending, given Brazil’s overstretched government finances.
Lula will face a Congress dominated by Bolsonaro’s conservative allies.
In a sign of how polarized the country remains, right-wing hardliners have been protesting outside army bases since Lula won a narrow landslide on October 30, calling for military intervention to prevent him from taking power.
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