Lula takes reins of Brazil

BRASILIA - Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was sworn in as Brazil’s President on Sunday, delivering a searing indictment of far-right former leader Jair Bolsonaro and vowing a drastic change of course to rescue a nation plagued with hunger, poverty and racism.

In a speech to Congress after officially taking the reins of Latin America’s biggest country, the leftist said democracy was the true winner of the October presidential vote, when he ousted Mr Bolsonaro in the most fraught election for a generation.

Mr Bolsonaro, who left Brazil for the United States on Friday after refusing to concede defeat, rattled the cages of Brazil’s young democracy with baseless claims of electoral weaknesses that birthed a violent movement of election deniers.

“Democracy was the great victor in this election, overcoming ... the most violent threats to freedom to vote, and the most abject campaign of lies and hate plotted to manipulate and embarrass the electorate,” Mr Lula told lawmakers.

Mr Lula, who was behind bars during Bolsonaro’s 2019 inauguration on graft convictions that were later overturned, delivered a veiled threat to his predecessor.

Mr Bolsonaro faces mounting legal risks for his anti-democratic rhetoric and his handling of the pandemic now that he no longer has presidential immunity. The former president’s Florida trip insulates him from any immediate legal jeopardy in Brazil.

“We do not carry any spirit of revenge against those who tried to subjugate the nation to their personal and ideological designs, but we will guarantee the rule of law,” Mr Lula said, without mentioning his predecessor by name. “Those who erred will answer for their errors.”

He also accused Bolsonaro’s administration of committing “genocide” by failing to respond properly to the COVID-19 virus that killed more than 680,000 Brazilians.

“The responsibilities for this genocide must be investigated and must not go unpunished,” he said.

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