On Sunday, Luiz Inácio "Lula" da Silva took the oath of office as president of Brazil for the third time amid threats of violence from Jair Bolsonaro's followers, with the statement, "I pledge to uphold, defend, and uphold the constitution; uphold the law; advance the general welfare of the Brazilian people; and protect Brazil's unity, integrity, and independence."
After a 12-year absence, the 76-year-old politician returned to the presidency at 12:20 p.m. local time with his wife, Rosângela da Silva, before proceeding to congress, where a formal legislative session was held.
Parliamentarians praised Lula before chanting "ole, ole ola, Lula, Lula" in unison.
With a minute of silence, the Senate president began the event by paying tribute to Pelé and Pope Benedict.
Lula defied convention at the event by telling a brief tale about the pen he used to sign congressional paperwork.
"When we arrived at the San Benedict church in Piaui after the 1989 demonstration, a resident handed me this pen and urged me to sign in if I won the election that year. I was unsuccessful in winning the election in 1989, 1994, and 1998. I was the winner in 2002, but I forgot my pen when I came here, so I used a senator's pen to sign. I used the Senate pen to sign in 2006, and I've now discovered it. I'm using it today in honor of the people of Piaui state," he said.
A military honors ceremony held outside the presidential palace was later attended by the newly-elected president and first wife while riding in an open automobile procession.
Bolsonaro was conspicuously absent from the event; he departed Brazil on Friday for Florida and left no return date.
His journey to the United States breaks the Brazilian custom of departing presidents attending their successors' inauguration ceremonies. It happened at the same time that the Brazilian government published an order on Friday allowing Bolsonaro, the "future ex-president," to travel with five public workers to Miami, Florida, between January 1 and December 31, 2023.
After Bolsonaro's rule of four years, Lula's surprise comeback victory in a close run-off election on October 30 signified the return to power in Brazil.
After being imprisoned for 580 days due to a slew of corruption charges, Lula achieved a spectacular comeback to power. Later, the Supreme Court declared it to be a mistrial, paving the way for his reelection.
Lula, who presided over Brazil for two terms in a row from 2003 to 2010, will leave behind a nation with debilitating debt and significantly greater rates of poverty than when he took office.
On the last day of his administration, Hamilton Mourao, Bolsonaro's former vice president, spoke to the public on national television and condemned those whose quiet contributed to "an environment of anarchy."
The military forces had to foot the bill, according to Mourao, who added that "leaders that should reassure and unify the public behind a goal for the country permitted that silence to create an environment of turmoil and social division." Bolsonaro has only spoken in front of the general public three times since the election results.
In such speeches, he refused to acknowledge the outcome of the election, inciting his radical following to think it could be overturned.
On his first day in office, President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva revoked Bolsonaro's cabinet policies. An order creating a federal $600 real benefit each month for low-income families was also signed by Lula. Additionally, the Amazon Fund was restored, which utilizes foreign money for initiatives to stop deforestation and protect the Amazon's ecosystem. Ibama, Brazil's leading environmental organization, had seen personnel reductions as a result of Bolsonara's budget cutbacks when Lula authorized its restoration.
Despite Bolsonaro's administration's claims that it is working with the transfer of power, violence has erupted throughout the nation as he has failed to admit his electoral defeat publicly.
A guy is detained as he tries to enter the inaugural celebration while carrying pyrotechnics and a knife. Several security agencies gathered around 8,000 security personnel on Sunday.
A justice of the Brazilian Supreme Court issued a four-day ban on carrying weapons in Brasilia on Wednesday. At military facilities all around the nation, thousands of Bolsonaro supporters have assembled. Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the president of Brazil, has pledged to reverse his predecessor's stance on deforestation in the Amazon area.
The previous president also committed to establishing an indigenous peoples ministry and enhancing affirmative action programs to remedy the injustices suffered by minorities. Lula: "We won't stand for environmental deterioration and deforestation that have so severely affected the nation."
