Lula sworn in as Brazil's new president

Together with the people, he will "rebuild the country," Lula promised in a speech before Congress after he was sworn in.

Lula sworn in as Brazil's new president

Together with the people, he will "rebuild the country," Lula promised in a speech before Congress after he was sworn in. His predecessor's tenure had deeply divided the country's society. Lula spoke of Bolsonaro's "devastating" record. This has weakened the health and education systems as well as science and culture. Bolsonaro "destroyed" environmental protection.

Lula pledged to stop deforestation in the Amazon rainforest. Brazil does not need deforestation for agriculture, he stressed. In addition, the new president wants to use his own words to promote equality between the sexes and the various ethnic groups and to improve the living conditions of the poor.

The swearing-in ceremony ended with a minute's silence for Brazilian soccer legend Pelé and Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. started, both of whom had recently died.

Tens of thousands of Lula's supporters had gathered under the scorching sun in Brasília's governorate hours before Lula's inauguration. When Lula, accompanied by his wife Rosangela "Janja" da Silva and the new Vice President Geraldo Alckmin, drove to the congress in a convertible, loud cheers erupted.

The inauguration was accompanied by a massive police presence after a Bolsonaro supporter attempted a car bomb attack on Christmas Eve. On the sidelines of the inauguration ceremony on Sunday, the police said they arrested a man armed with a knife and firecrackers who wanted to get onto the festival site.

This is Lula's third term in office - he was president from 2003 to 2010. Between 2018 and 2019 he was imprisoned for more than a year and a half on corruption charges. The idol of the Latin American left prevailed against Bolsonaro in a runoff election in October.

Numerous heads of state and government from all over the world attended the inauguration on Sunday, including Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier. He previously assured Lula of Germany's support: The Federal Republic was ready to "support the new president as best as possible in his ambitious plans to protect the rainforest". Under Lula's predecessor Bolsonaro, fires and deforestation in the rainforest had increased sharply.

The day after the inauguration, Steinmeier wanted to visit the rainforest-rich state of Amazonas. He is accompanied by Federal Environment Minister Steffi Lemke (Greens). She said Lula's inauguration would give the world "a chance to save the Amazon and stop one of the most important issues in the climate catastrophe." The question of whether the Amazon rainforest can still be saved will be "decided in the next ten years".

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