When Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, 77, arrived at the presidential palace of Planalto in Brasilia this Sunday afternoon, already installed as head of state, he was greeted by a huge, red-clad crowd with a roar of ecstasy. The emotion reserved for those who have changed the lives of millions of their countrymen. They dreamed of this moment years ago. Waiting a few hours under the capital’s harsh sun was the bare minimum. “Love conquered hate. Long live Brazil!” the President proclaimed in his second speech of the day, the warmest he dedicated to his compatriots. The former labor and union leader was moved to tears as he spoke about the plight of millions of Brazilians. Jair Bolsonaro from the United States did not attend the ceremony.
Lula has pledged to fight mercilessly against the inequality that plagues a country he presided over between 2003 and 2010. He reminded that the richest 5% of Brazilians have the same income as the remaining 95%. Brazil has experienced a political moment this new year that would have been unthinkable not so long ago. As Brazilians are fond of reminding us, politics here is one of those that will excite any screenwriter.
In both words and gestures, Brazil’s new president has insisted on several ideas: first, he will rule for all Brazilians, those who voted for him and those who didn’t vote; Second, he will pay special attention to those who have less, those who need the state to guarantee their very survival (income sharing has been the hallmark of his previous two terms), and third, the victory this time is neither a personal achievement nor one personal achievement of the Workers’ Party (PT), but of the broad front that he was able to forge with former opponents. This was the only way he managed to defeat Jair Messias Bolsonaro, 67, and narrowly: just 1.8 points.
The president reminded lawmakers that 20 years ago, after his first victory, he said in his speech that his life’s mission is for every Brazilian to eat three meals a day. “To have to reiterate that commitment today, in the face of the advance of misery and hunger that we had overcome, is the gravest symptom of the devastation of recent years.” His priority now is to save 33 million Brazilians from starvation and 100 million from poverty.
After the ceremony, Lula signed the decrees with the first measures. It started with the one that guarantees the payment of a monthly aid of 600 reais to 21 million poor Brazilians. Others include restricting arms sales, stepping up the fight against deforestation, or lifting Bolsonaro-imposed secrecy on official affairs.
After the ceremony, from a room in the Planalto Palace, Rosa Amorim, 26, PT MP in Pernambuco state cheers. “Today Brazil is resuming its hope. Lula is the dream of a Brazil for everyone,” said this young woman from the Landless Workers Movement, who campaigned for Lula, who was born on her land, two decades ago. His parents watched a moment of tremendous importance for this family from across the street while the city was packed in the Plaza de los Tres Poderes. Around 300,000 people attended the big party, which included concerts before and after the ceremony.
Subscribe to EL PAÍS to follow all the news and read without limits.
Subscribe to
The 32-year-old cleaning worker Sunamita Priscila also took part enthusiastically. He knows Lula with a closeness few enjoy. He worked in the presidential residence for the last year the former metalworker was president before he left power in 2010. Then he worked “with Doña Dilma, with Mr. Temer and with him,” he says, referring to Bolsonaro. Evangelically, she asks “God to lead her on the way, because things are not easy.”
Vice President Geraldo Alckmin played a tremendous role in the ceremony. Lula arrived in a convertible Rolls Royce, but contrary to tradition, Alckmin and her wives accompanied him. It was his way of emphasizing that Bolsonaro’s “government of national destruction” lost the election thanks to an unprecedented coalition left and right of the PT. Alckmin is a classic centre-right figure who lost the 2006 election to Lula, voted for impeachment and is now “Comrade Alckmin”.
The guests who followed the ceremony from the Planalto Palace impressively reflect the change that Bolsonaro’s departure will bring. Instead of a panorama of white men in suits or uniforms, the participants were a more faithful reflection of Brazilian society, with many women, young black men, some women dressed in white with spectacular headdresses, followers of the religions that left Brazil their ancestors, enslaved Africans, several aborigines with their headgear and paintings or a drag queen with a spectacular red dress. Brazilians who have not felt comfortable in their country during Bolsonaro’s tenure because the head of state insisted on attacking them and dismantling the policies built up to protect them over the past years or decades.
Bolsonaro, always determined to treat Lula like an enemy, did not attend the ceremony. He’s been in the United States since Friday after two months of virtual silence. How he will shape his political future and whether he will take an active role as leader of the opposition to Lula is unclear at this time.
Follow all international information on Facebook and Twitteror in our weekly newsletter.