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At 6 p.m. GMT on Sunday, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will be officially sworn in as president of Brazil, following his election in October. About 10,000 police are mobilized to ensure the security of the festivities in Brasilia. Festivities which the now ex-president Jair Bolsonaro will not attend.
The inauguration of President Lula takes place on Sunday January 1 in Brasilia under the double sign of the absence of Jair Bolsonarowho left the country even before the end of his mandate, and important security measures in the face of the threat posed by his radical supporters.
At 77, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva must once more be proclaimed president of the first power in Latin America following his two terms from 2003 to 2010, and sign the return of the Brazilian left to the presidential palace of Planalto.
Up to 300,000 people are expected for this day to combine the pomp, with ceremonies regulated to the millimeter, and the party, with concerts, in the capital, usually peaceful, with futuristic architecture.
Among the fifty foreign delegations present are 17 heads of state, including the presidents of Germany, Portugal, several Latin American countries such as Argentina, and the King of Spain. The United States sent Interior Secretary Deb Haaland and China Vice President Wang Qishan. France is represented by Olivier Becht, Minister Delegate for Foreign Trade.
Unprecedented since 1985 and the end of the military regime, outgoing President Bolsonaro will not gird his successor with the yellow and green presidential scarf, as tradition dictates. The far-right president, reclusive and almost silent since his short defeat in October that he has not digested, left Brazil on Friday. It would be, according to the daily Sheetin Florida with a former martial arts champion.
Enhanced security
While his most radical sympathizers want to prevent Lula’s accession to power and are still camped outside barracks in various towns, demanding military intervention, security has been tightened. All the police forces of the district of Brasilia, ie 8,000 agents, will be mobilized, as well as a thousand federal police officers, who can, if necessary, be supported by the National Force.
The number of people who might attend Lula’s speech outside the Planalto Palace was limited to 30,000, and the carrying of weapons was banned for most civilians.
Patrols are taking place at Brasilia airport near which an explosive device was discovered a week ago in a tanker truck, placed by a Bolsonarist who wanted to “create chaos” and “prevent the arrival of communism” in Brazil.
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The ceremonies will begin at 2:20 p.m. (5:20 p.m. GMT) with the arrival at the cathedral of Lula and his center-right vice-president, Geraldo Alckmin. The debate on the vehicle which must then transport Lula to Congress will be decided “at the last moment”: the traditional Rolls Royce convertible, or an armored car for security reasons.
Lula will be officially sworn in as president at 3 p.m. (6 p.m. GMT) following taking the oath to respect the Constitution before Congress. Then, he will go to the Presidential Palace of Planalto, an architectural jewel signed Oscar Niemeyer, to receive the famous presidential scarf, set with gold and diamonds.
“Great popular festival”
The crowd will gather to listen to the speech of the new president on the lawn of the immense esplanade of the ministries, near the place of the Three Powers, where the palace of Planalto, the Congress and the Supreme Court meet.
The future First Lady, Rosangela da Silva, known as “Janja”, was the great organizer of the festive aspect of the day, with concerts before and following the official ceremonies. Lula’s wife promised a “big popular party”, with music on two stages and an eclectic line-up, with drag queen Pabllo Vittar and living samba legend Martinho da Vila.
As of Saturday, thousands of supporters of Lula’s Workers’ Party (PT) had flocked to Brasilia by plane, bus, carpooling, or even by bicycle, settling in a camp.
As for Lula, who completed his government of 37 ministers that in recent days, he will have to tackle a “Herculean task” on Monday, said his vice-president: the transition team has drawn up a very bleak inventory of Brazil following four years of Bolsonarism.
With AFP
