Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has now been sworn in as the new president of Brazil while Jair Bolsonaro jets away to the US. Bolsonaro has refused to accept defeat after the October election.
Speaking as the new president of the largest country in Latin America, Lula da Silva claims that democracy was indeed the true winner of that election.
In his speech to Congress, he said:
‘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,’ Lula told lawmakers.
It is of the opinion that the former president, Bolsonaro may have sojourned to Orlando, Florida in order to escape the growing legal concerns over his anti-democratic rhetoric and pandemic management now that he no longer enjoys presidential immunity.
Lula had threatened the former president who had had him imprisoned during his inauguration on charges of corruption in 2019. These charges, however, were ultimately reversed.
Further speaking to the congress, Lula says:
‘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,’ Lula said, without mentioning his predecessor by name. ‘Those who erred will answer for their errors.’
‘The responsibilities for this genocide must be investigated and must not go unpunished,’ he said, accusing Bolsonaro’s administration of committing ‘genocide’ by failing to respond properly to the COVID-19 virus that killed more than 680,000 Brazilians.
In contrast to Bolsonaro’s four years in office, which were allegedly marked by a retreat on Amazon rainforest environmental regulations, laxer gun laws, and lessened safeguards for minorities and indigenous peoples, Lula’s proposals for administration go in contrast.
Brazil, one of the top food producers in the world, could become a green superpower, according to Lula.
‘Brazil does not want more weapons, it wants peace and security for its people,’ he added. He reaffirmed his pledge to reverse Bolsonaro’s laxer gun laws, which led to a dramatic increase in gun ownership and to stop the Amazon deforestation that reached a 15-year high under Bolsonaro.
