Sunday, January 1, 2023 | 5:00 p.m.
Luiz Inácio “Lula” da Silva, 77, today assumed the presidency of Brazil for the third time for a four-year term, before the National Congress and with the company of around 300,000 people on the Esplanade of the Ministries in Brasilia.
The Brazilian president assumed his third term after having governed the country between 2003 and 2010 and after having been imprisoned for 580 days in the so-called cause of Operation Lavajato, which is why he was disqualified from participating in the 2018 elections won by the outgoing President Jair Bolsonaro, who left the country on Friday when traveling to the United States, reports Télam.
Da Silva arrived at the Brazilian Congress some 20 minutes early for the inauguration ceremony to become Brazil’s president for the third time, after being received with military honors by the head of the Chamber of Deputies, Arthur Lira, and the head of the Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco. .
Local authorities and foreign visitors were present at the ceremony, including former President Dilma Rousseff, of the Workers’ Party (PT), dismissed in 2016 by Congress.
The ceremony began after 2:30 p.m., when the still president-elect went up in front of the Metropolitan Cathedral in a convertible Rolls Royce of the Presidency of the Republic that would take him to Congress, where he was sworn in, on a journey of 1,400 meters.
Lula got into the car accompanied by his wife, Rosángela da Silva, Janja. But before starting the march, he asked Vice President Geraldo Alckmin and his wife, Lu Alchkmin, to get into the convertible vehicle, the use of which was in doubt until hours before this inauguration ceremony for security reasons.
“Victory of democracy”
Lula da Silva’s gesture to his running mate was a sign of the president’s intention to comply with the agreement he forged with Alckmin, a center-right politician, when he told him that his role would not be that of a vice president, but that of both will preside over the country together.
The new president of Brazil celebrated before his followers the “victory of democracy” that allowed him to win the October elections despite threats from the extreme right that still does not accept his victory. “If we are here it is thanks to the political awareness of Brazilian society,” Lula declared before Parliament, in his first official speech.
“Democracy was the great victor”, which “overcame” the “most violent threats to the freedom of voting”, he pointed out in reference to the campaign against the voting system unleashed by the now former president Jair Bolsonaro, whom he defeated in the October elections.
“Under the winds of redemocratization we used to say: dictatorship never again! Today, after the terrible challenge we have overcome, we must say: democracy forever!” the president assured. In addition, he announced that today he will sign measures to reorganize the structures of the Executive Branch “so that the Government can once again function in a rational, republican and democratic manner.”
For the 3rd time I appear at this National Congress to thank the Brazilian people for the vote of confidence that we receive. I renew the oath of fidelity to the Constitution of the Republic, together with the vice-president @geraldoalckmin and the ministers that I know will work in Brazil.
– Lula (@LulaOficial) January 1, 2023
“The mandate we have received, against adversaries inspired by fascism, will be defended with the powers that the Constitution confers on democracy. We will respond to hate with love. To lies, with the truth. To terror and violence we will respond with Law and its harshest consequences”, he said and continued: “Throughout this electoral campaign I saw hope shine in the eyes of a people who suffered, as a consequence of the destruction of public policies that promoted citizenship, essential rights, health and education”, and finally added: “It was shown that it was possible to govern this country with the broadest social participation, including workers and the poorest in the budget and in government decisions”.
“It has been shown that a representative of the working class could dialogue with society to promote economic growth in a sustainable way and for the benefit of all, especially those most in need,” he said, and along these lines he warned: “The diagnosis we received of the Transitional Cabinet is terrible. Health resources have been emptied. They have dismantled education, culture, science and technology. They destroyed environmental protection. They left no resources for school meals, vaccination, public safety”.
Possession of Lula in the Presidency of Brazil https://t.co/eaMLYGLNCT
– Lula (@LulaOficial) January 1, 2023
The president promised to help those who need it most: “No nation has risen or can rise above the misery of its people. This commitment begins by guaranteeing a renewed, stronger and fairer Bolsa Família Program to serve those who need it most.” need”.
first actions
Lula announced that the government’s first actions will be aimed at “rescuing 33 million people from hunger and rescuing more than 100 million Brazilians from poverty, who have borne the heaviest burden of the project of national destruction that ends today.”
It also raised as a primary objective to achieve zero deforestation in the Amazon and the zero emission of greenhouse gases in the electrical matrix, in addition to stimulating the reuse of degraded pastures. “Brazil does not need to deforest to maintain and expand its strategic agricultural frontier,” he said.
A new day dawns in South America.
Lula strength! Strength Brazil! 🇧🇷 pic.twitter.com/Ptv9ZhhU8q
— Cristina Kirchner (@CFKArgentina) January 1, 2023
“Creating, planting and harvesting will continue to be our goal. What we cannot accept is that it is a lawless land. We will not tolerate violence against children, deforestation and environmental degradation,” he added.
He assured that this was one of the reasons, but not the only one, for the creation of the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples: “No one knows our forests better or is more effective in defending them than those who have been here since time immemorial. Let us revoke all the injustices committed against the Indigenous villages”
The president also announced the refounding of the Ministry for Women “to demolish this castle of inequality and prejudices”, and about that he said that “it is unacceptable that women earn less than men for the same work, it is unacceptable that they are harassed with impunity in the street and at work, who are victims of violence inside and outside the home”.
Latin American integration
He recalled the Covid-19 tragedy and stated that “in no other country was the number of fatalities so high proportionally to the population”.
“The responsibilities for this genocide must be investigated and must not go unpunished,” said Lula, who directly criticized the “criminal attitude of a denialist government,” led by Jair Bolsonaro.
Finally, the new president of Brazil promised to “retake integration” in Latin America in order to have “an active and proud dialogue” with the other regions of the world.
“We will resume integration based on Mercosur, with the revitalization of the Union of South American Nations (Unasur) and other sovereign bodies” that exist in Latin America, he declared before Parliament after being sworn in as the new president of Brazil.
He also guaranteed that his government will strengthen cooperation with the Brics forum, which Brazil integrates along with Russia, India, China and South Africa, and will build bridges with Africa and the developing world, without neglecting its relations with the United States or the European Union (EU). ).
