By Oyintari Ben
Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of Brazil took the oath of office as President on Sunday, regaining the position he held from 2003 to 2010.
In the toughest presidential contest in decades, the 77-year-old won a third term by defeating far-right incumbent Jair Bolsonaro in October.
Lula pledged to “maintain, defend, and obey the constitution” and promised to “rescue” 33 million people from hunger and 100 million people from poverty — about half the country’s 215 million inhabitants — while taking the oath of office at Congress in the nation’s capital Brasilia.
Without mentioning Bolsonaro by name, Lula declared that he would rebuild Brazil from the “ruins” that he claimed the previous administration had left behind.
“I assume the responsibility for reconstructing the country and making it a nation of all and for all, together with the Brazilian people, out of these horrible ruins,” he continued.
Lula went further in his criticism of Bolsonaro’s government, claiming that his transition team had called the nation’s public finances “atrocious.”
“The Health Ministry’s funds were depleted by them [the previous administration]. Education, culture, science, and technology were destroyed. The environmental protection was destroyed. They didn’t leave anything behind for public safety, vaccinations, or school lunches “he stated.
The King of Spain, Felipe IV, as well as the presidents of Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Portugal were among the representatives from fifty nations in attendance for the swearing-in event in Congress.
Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the President of Germany, was also present. However, the outgoing President Bolsonaro was not present because he had left for Florida on Friday.
Police claimed to have detained a man trying to infiltrate the area with fireworks and a knife before Lula’s inauguration.
From 2003 to 2010, Lula served as President of Brazil. During this time, Brazil’s government benefited from the boom in raw materials and was able to use extensive social programs to help millions of people escape poverty.
In spite of this, there was a lot of corruption, and Lula was also given a lengthy prison sentence for corruption and money laundering. Nevertheless, the sentence was later overturned.
