Live 2022 Race

Lula promises to govern for all in tearful final inauguration speech

Euan Marshall
Jan 01, 2023 17:51 (Updated: Jan 02, 2023 9:10)

Shortly after being formally sworn in as Brazil’s 39th president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva issued an emotional inauguration speech from atop the ramp of the Planalto Palace, promising to “govern for all 215 million Brazilians” and breaking down in tears when discussing Brazil’s pressing hunger problem.

With former President Jair Bolsonaro abandoning tradition and leaving the country to avoid passing on the presidential sash to Lula, the new president received the sash from a group of people representing Brazil’s minorities and marginalized groups, including indigenous leader Raoni Metuktire.

He began his inauguration address thanking those who held daily vigils outside the Federal Police headquarters in Curitiba in 2018 and 2019, while he was in jail for now-quashed corruption sentences.

While an earlier speech in Congress was hard-hitting, promising not to forgive Mr. Bolsonaro for the “genocide” he led during the Covid pandemic, this address was more conciliatory. Lula stressed that he wants to dialogue with those who did not vote for him, promising to “govern for everyone, looking forward to our shining future, not our past.” 

“A country permanently at war is no good for anyone, neither is a family living in disharmony. It’s time to rebuild our ties with friends and family, broken by hate speech and the spreading of lies,” said the new president, in reference to the misinformation tactics employed by former President Bolsonaro.

“There’s no such thing as two Brazils. This is one country, a grand nation,” recalling his victory speech after the October election. “Divided, we will always be the country of the future that never arrives.”

Lula dedicated a significant part of his speech addressing the growing problem of hunger in Brazil, linking its return with rising inequality. “Hunger is the child of inequality, which is the mother of the great evils that delay the development of Brazil.”

Far-right protestors start to disband as Lula inauguration nears

Amanda Audi
Jan 01, 2023 14:35 (Updated: Jan 01, 2023 16:56)

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will take the oath of office before Congress and become Brazil’s new president. Seven kilometers from the Esplanade of Ministries, hundreds of far-right Jair Bolsonaro supporters remain at a protest camp — praying for a higher power to prevent the transition of power while urging the Armed Forces to stage a coup.

But after former President Jair Bolsonaro left the country earlier this week, many protestors have gotten their things together and have left. Those who remain are as radical as ever. The Brazilian Report was told to “be careful” when walking around the area, as “tempers are running high.”

“Everything is quiet around here because the Army is already on the streets. The streets have been taken, and the thief will not climb the ramp,” said one protestor. Climbing the ramp of the Planalto Palace, the president’s office, is a gesture that symbolizes the inauguration of a new head of state.

The groups that insist on staying take turns using impromptu power strips to charge their cell phones and find out the latest updates on far-right conspiracies. 

“The presidential plane has already returned. The president will show up any minute. He let that happen, and now he’s going to take back power,” said one protestor, glued to his screen. “We are waiting for more information. But it will happen. Stay safe,” he assured.

Many people exiting the camp were vocal in their disappointment with Mr. Bolsonaro, who left for Florida on Friday. One group called him a “traitor of the homeland” and said “the military will hold him accountable for leaving.”

Earlier this week, law enforcement tried to dismantle the campsite, but the operation was aborted after the Army did not allow a police operation to happen, as the surroundings of Army garrisons are under the jurisdiction of the Armed Forces.

Media: man arrested carrying knife to Lula inauguration

Euan Marshall
Jan 01, 2023 14:25

TV news station CNN Brasil reports that police in Brasília have arrested a man carrying a knife and explosives. He was reportedly trying to approach the area where President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will be sworn in later this afternoon.

The Federal Police in Brasília released a photograph of the objects they seized from the man, who had allegedly traveled from Rio de Janeiro to take part in today’s inauguration. He was carrying six fireworks, a lighter, and a knife. Police say the man has been arrested and transported to the local federal precinct.

Recent violent acts by supporters of President Jair Bolsonaro have raised concerns about security at the event. Future Justice Minister Flávio Dino said that the inauguration will have more than 8,000 security officers and metal detectors.

A bomb was found near the Brasília Airport last week. The device was triggered but did not explode. One man was arrested, and another is on the run. At Lula’s certification on December 12, supporters of the president torched a bus and tried to invade the headquarters of the Federal Police.

In response to threats, Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ruled that citizens cannot carry firearms in Brasília until Monday. Though there were suggestions Lula would wear a bulletproof vest today during his inauguration, the incoming president has reportedly refused, and the traditional open-top car parade will go on as normal.

The National Force — comprising state-level public security agents who work for the federal government in specific situations — have been allowed to reinforce the security detail at today’s inauguration.

As of 2:10 pm Brasília time, the Three Powers Square in the capital had reached its maximum capacity, filled with roughly 30,000 Lula supporters, under the baking sun. The local fire brigade has sought to refresh the crowds in attendance by spraying them with water jets.

Lula administration launches motto: “Unity and reconstruction”

TBR Newsroom
Jan 01, 2023 13:53

The incoming Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva administration will unveil the federal government’s new logo today, as well as its motto: “Unity and reconstruction.” The design includes a mix of colors in what is a throwback to the logo used during Lula’s first spell as president.

The slogan makes reference to Lula’s talking points about the need to rebuild the country following four years of Jair Bolsonaro in charge. During the campaign, Lula said his adversary dismantled the state apparatus, notably in the areas of education, the environment, healthcare, and social policies.

Running under a big tent that blended conservatives and progressives, Lula frequently said that his candidacy was that of a “broad front” to defend democracy from Mr. Bolsonaro’s anti-democratic rampants.

Governments in Brazil distinguish themselves from one another by using their own branding, which often gives an indication of the direction the administration will take.

logo governments lula
From the upper left, clockwise: the logos of the administrations of Fernando Collor, Itamar Franco, Fernando Henrique Cardoso, Lula, Dilma Rousseff, Michel Temer, and Jair Bolsonaro.

Itamar Franco, who took office in 1992 after the impeachment of then-President Fernando Collor, used “Union of all” as his motto. This was an adaptation of a famous quote from early Brazilian 18th-century revolutionary Tiradentes, from Mr. Franco’s home state of Minas Gerais. 

In his first term, Lula chose “A country for all” as his motto — a reference to his goal to further poverty-eradication policies. And the multicolored logo represented Brazilian diversity, a feature that makes a return in 2023.

Former President Jair Bolsonaro used a quote from the national anthem, “Brazil, Beloved Fatherland,” as his motto and applied the colors of the flag to the logo. The far-right leader ran on ultra-nationalistic ideals, which made their way into his branding.

Besides Lula, 27 governors also take office on New Year’s Day

Amanda Audi
Jan 01, 2023 12:08

In addition to the presidential inauguration of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, governors of Brazil’s 27 states will also take office today to serve four-year terms.

By the end of this morning, Clécio Luís (Amapá), Jerônimo Rodrigues (Bahia), Elmano Freitas (Ceará), Carlos Brandão (Maranhão), Romeu Zema (Minas Gerais), Rafael Fonteles (Piauí), Cláudio Castro (Rio de Janeiro), Fátima Bezerra (Rio Grande do Norte), Tarcísio de Freitas (São Paulo), and Wanderlei Barbosa (Tocantins) had already taken their oath of office.

Eleven governors are expected to attend Lula’s ceremony in Brasília.

Tarcísio de Freitas, who became governor of São Paulo — the country’s most populous state — thanked former President Jair Bolsonaro for his “boldness” in launching Mr. Freitas as a candidate. 

The new governor served under Mr. Bolsonaro as infrastructure minister and may be the best-positioned politician to keep Bolsonarism alive in the years to come. Earlier in December, however, Mr. Freitas said he was “never a hardcore Bolsonarist” and called for cooperation between his administration and the federal government.

“São Paulo and Brazil must walk together,” he said, in a speech before the state legislature.

Mr. Bolsonaro traveled to Miami on Friday, two days before the end of his term. He avoided attending Lula’s inauguration — whose victory he never formally recognized — and handing him the presidential sash. 

Of the 27 governors initiating their terms, 18 were re-elected. Eleven ran for office as allies of Lula’s, with 14 running against the new president’s group. Two remained neutral. Alliances can be fluid in Brazil, and Lula will certainly try to have as many governors on his side as he can.

In the last four years of the Bolsonaro government, the relationship with the governors was marked by instability – especially with the states in the Northeast region, traditionally more aligned with Lula. 

The main friction occurred during the peak of the pandemic. Mr. Bolsonaro accused governors of plunging the country into an economic abyss by enacting Covid restrictions, and tried to undermine their moves. Tensions grew higher when governors sought to bypass the federal administration in purchasing coronavirus vaccines.

This is the last time that governors and the president will take office on the same day. As of 2026, the president will be sworn in on January 5. Governors, on January 6.

One of the reasons for the change approved by Congress this year is the difficulty for governors to attend the presidential inauguration. The proximity to New Year’s Eve also hinders popular participation.

With Bolsonaro out of Brazil, who will hand the presidential sash to Lula?

TBR Newsroom
Jan 01, 2023 11:07

Jair Bolsonaro left Brazil for Florida on Friday and will not hand the presidential sash to his successor, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. 

Although a mere formality (the only requirement for an incoming president is to take the oath of office before Congress), the handing over of the presidential sash is a tradition of more than a century in Brazil, and was codified into a 1972 decree.

The last head of state not to hand the sash to their successor was João Baptista Figueiredo, the last of the military presidents who ruled during the 1964-1985 dictatorship. Vice President Hamilton Mourão could fulfill that role as he became acting president the moment Mr. Bolsonaro left for Florida — but he said he would not.

The inauguration’s ceremonial team, headed by First Lady Rosângela da Silva, has kept plans secret for handing the sash to Lula. Either House Speaker Arthur Lira or Senate President Rodrigo Pacheco could be called up for the role. But the likeliest solution is that a group of people representing Brazilian diversity will do so.

Congresswoman Gleisi Hoffmann, chairwoman of Lula’s Workers Party, reinforced that possibility. When asked by reporters who would hand Lula the sash, she said: “The people.” And on Saturday, future Communications Minister Paulo Pimenta said “it is hard for one person to represent Brazil as a whole.”

Police target pro-Bolsonaro rioters for December 12 vandalism

Amanda Audi
Dec 29, 2022 11:47 (Updated: Dec 29, 2022 11:48)

On December 12, multiple groups of Bolsonaro supporters staged a series of violent acts as electoral courts certified Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s election win. Their actions included torching a bus in Brasília and the attempted storming of the Federal Police headquarters. 

The Feds have launched an operation across eight states targeting people who carried out those acts — as well as some of those who financed them. So far, law enforcement has identified at least 40 people who vandalized public and private property, and marshals have arrested at least four people. 

Seven more should be placed under temporary arrest, including a suspect of planting a bomb in a tanker truck near the capital’s airport. 

Another man, who admitted to manufacturing the explosive device, has been in police custody since the weekend.

Operation Nero, named in reference to the Roman emperor who fiddled as Rome burned, got the green light from Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who acts as Brazil’s top election official and oversees multiple investigations around far-right organizations trying to disrupt democracy in Brazil.

Senator-elect Flávio Dino, Brazil’s future justice minister, used his Twitter profile to comment on the operation. “Political motivations do not legitimize arson, attacks on the Federal Police headquarters, vandalism, and bombings. Freedom of expression does not cover terrorism,” he said.

The October 30 runoff election was the closest in Brazilian democratic history, and supporters of outgoing President Jair Bolsonaro have violently challenged the results — from trying to block federal highways to carrying out vandalism in Brasília. 

Security concerns for Sunday’s inauguration ceremony led law enforcement to beef up preparations for the event, and the Supreme Court barred citizens from bearing firearms in Brasília until January 2. Local authorities could limit how many people will be allowed to be present at the Esplanade of Ministries.

Inauguration security upped with gun ban and special security group

Amanda Audi
Dec 28, 2022 13:45 (Updated: Dec 29, 2022 7:41)

Responding to security threats around Sunday’s inauguration of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva as president, Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ruled to bar citizens from carrying firearms in Brasília between Wednesday and January 2, 2023. 

Only the Armed Forces, law enforcement officers, and private security agents will be allowed to carry guns during that period. A similar move was enacted during the October elections.

Meanwhile, the Justice Ministry authorized the use of National Force troops to reinforce the security of the presidential inauguration. Permission was authorized between December 27 and January 2 for escort activities by authorities.

The National Force comprises state-level public security agents who work for the federal government in specific situations, such as calamities or when there is a potential threat to public order.

Recent violent acts by supporters of President Jair Bolsonaro have raised concerns about security at the event. The future justice minister, Flávio Dino, said that the inauguration will have more than 8,000 security officers, metal detectors, and explosives.

Last week, a bomb was found near Brasília Airport. The device was triggered, but did not explode. One man was arrested, and another is on the run. At Lula’s certification, on December 12, supporters of the president set a bus on fire and tried to invade the headquarters of the Federal Police.

With the escalation of violence, the pro-Bolsonaro campsite set up near the Army HQ in Brasília began to be dismantled on Tuesday. After more than 50 days of collusion, Army officers began to tell participants to go home.

At least 300,000 people are expected to attend festivities at the Esplanade of Ministries, in addition to heads of state and high-level authorities from dozens of countries.