«We will rebuild the country together with the Brazilian people».
Luis Inácio Lula da Silva was sworn in today as President of Brazil for a third presidential term, with a human wave of supporters dressed in red flooding the capital Brasilia.
The 77-year-old icon of the Brazilian left was sworn in at the Constitution in a ceremony in Congress, 12 years after she left power after two terms in office (2003-2010).
A minute's silence was observed in Congress as a tribute to Brazilian football legend Pele, who died of cancer on Thursday, and to Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, who died on Saturday, shortly before the inauguration of Lula and his vice-president, Geraldo Alcmin.
In his speech to Congress after his inauguration, the new Brazilian president pledged «to rebuild the country, together with the Brazilian people», referring to the «disastrous» record of the government of his predecessor, Jorge Bolsonaro.
Lula said he was receiving a devastated country where hunger has returned under Bolsonaro, whose government, Lula complained, has exhausted resources for education, health and forest conservation and undermined human rights.
He accused the Bolsonaro government of committing «genocide» by failing to respond adequately to the Covid-19 pandemic that killed more than 680,000 Brazilians. He said the previous government's mistakes in handling the pandemic must be investigated and there can be no impunity.
Lula stressed that he won the October elections against opponents who attacked the country's electoral system, which has won international praise. «If we are here, it is thanks to the political conscience of Brazilian society and the democratic front we formed,» he said.
Paralilla stressed that Brazil «does not need to deforest» to support its agriculture. «We will be able to live without cutting down trees, without burning» forests, Lula said, recalling his goal of «zero deforestation in the Amazon», while the international community expects strong gestures from him after large-scale deforestation under the orders of his predecessor Bolsonaro.
No other country has the conditions like Brazil's to become a major environmental power, he stressed.
Tens of thousands of supporters in Workers' Party (PT) colors cheered Lula as he marched to Congress in the traditional Brazilian presidential Rolls Royce, along with Alkmin and their wives, despite related security fears.
Lula's inauguration took place in the absence of his predecessor, as Bolsonaro left Brazil before his term of office had even ended, and under draconian security measures, due to the threat posed by the most unyielding supporters of the outgoing far-right head of state.
An unprecedented event since 1985 and the end of the military dictatorship: the outgoing President Bolsonaro will not hand over the presidential yellow and green scarf to his successor, as tradition dictates.
Up to 300,000 people were expected to attend today's inaugural events attended by 17 heads of state.
From Brasilia, where he is attending the inauguration of Brazil's new President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said that Brazil is regaining its share as a key international player in both economic and climate matters.
«I am happy that Brazil is returning to the world stage,» Steinmeier said today, hours before Lula's inauguration.
The President of SYRIZA-PS, Alexis Tsipras, had a meeting with the newly elected President of Brazil, who congratulated him on his election.
«Infinite emotion»
Under the bright sun, thousands of Brazilians had to wait in queues of hundreds of metres due to security checks.
A large music festival with over 40 artists was to follow the inauguration.
«Ole Ole Ole Lula», and «Esplanade is ours» the crowd shouted with joy. «It's a historic moment and it would have been impossible not to be here,» Zenia Maria Soares Pinto, a retired teacher, told Agence France-Presse. She travelled 30 hours by bus from the southern state of Santa Catarina to reach Brasilia and her «emotion is immense».
Sapúia Calapo, originally from Mato Grosso (centre-west), came with his family and «expects a lot» from the Lula government, «for our rights and the demarcation of our territories», he says, because «the four years of the (Bolsonaro) government have been very bad» for the indigenous people.
«We really have a lot of expectations after these four difficult years, but the Bolsonaro government has left the country in a sad state. It will be really very complicated for Lula,» said supporter Manoel Carlos de Carvalho, 45, from Natal.
Isolated and almost silent since his October defeat, Bolsonaro, who lost his presidential immunity, left Brazil for Florida on Friday. While his more extreme supporters want to prevent Lula's rise to power and are still camped outside barracks around the country demanding military intervention, security measures have been stepped up.
All the police forces in the Brasilia region, about 8,000, were mobilized today, as well as a thousand federal police officers.
Police today arrested a man carrying fireworks and a knife who tried to enter the square for the swearing-in ceremony, Brasilia police said.
