Lula takes office with vow to "rebuild Brazil"
Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva took office on Sunday for a third term as Brazil's president, vowing to fight for the poor and the environment and "rebuild the country" after far-right leader Jair Bolsonaro's divisive administration. The 77-year-old veteran leftist, who previously led Brazil from 2003 to 2010, took the oath of office before Congress, capping a remarkable political comeback for the metalworker-turned-president less than five years after he was jailed on controversial, since-quashed corruption charges. Giving a blistering overview of the past four years under Bolsonaro – who snubbed the ceremony, in a break with tradition – Lula said his government would work to undo a legacy of economic decline, funding cuts in health, education and science, and the "stupidity" of plundering the nation's resources for private gain. "Upon these terrible ruins, I pledge to rebuild the country together with the Brazilian people," he said, vowing to fight to improve life for poor Brazilians, work toward racial and gender equality, and achieve zero deforestation in the Amazon rainforest, where destruction surged under Bolsonaro. "The mandate we received, in the face of opponents inspired by fascism, will be defended through our democratic constitution. We will respond to hate with love, to lies with the truth, to terrorism and violence with the law." Wearing a blue suit and tie, the charismatic but controversial Lula arrived for the ceremony in a black convertible Rolls-Royce, accompanied by First Lady Rosangela "Janja" da Silva and Vice President Geraldo Alckmin. The swearing-in began with a minute of silence for Brazilian football legend Pele and former pope Benedict XVI, who both died in recent days. Tens of thousands of red-clad supporters cheered loudly as their motorcade slowly rolled down Brasilia's Esplanade of Ministries, escorted by dozens of bodyguards. Security was exceptionally tight for the ceremony, with some 8,000 police deployed, after a Bolsonaro supporter was arrested last week for planting a tanker truck rigged with explosives near the capital's airport, a plot he said aimed to "sow chaos" in the South American country. Police said they arrested another man on Sunday who tried to enter the secured inaugural ceremony area carrying a knife and fireworks. (AFP)