After being inaugurated in as president of Brazil on Sunday, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva delivered a stinging critique of the country’s previous far-right leader Jair Bolsonaro and vowed to do a dramatic about-face in order to save a country beset by hunger, poverty, and racism.
The leftist, who defeated Bolsonaro in the most contentious election in a century, declared democracy the real winner of the October presidential vote in a speech to Congress shortly after taking office in the largest nation in Latin America.
Bolsonaro, who refused to accept loss and departed Brazil for the United States on Friday, shook Brazil’s fledgling democracy with fanciful allegations of electoral flaws that gave rise to a violent movement of election deniers.
According to Lula, democracy triumphed in this election by defeating “the most violent threats to the right to vote, and the most abhorrent campaign of falsehoods and hate planned to deceive and disgrace the voters.”
A veiled threat was sent to Bolsonaro’s predecessor by Lula, who was imprisoned during the 2019 inauguration due to convictions for graft that were eventually reversed.
Now that he is no longer protected by presidential immunity, Bolsonaro faces increasing legal dangers because of his anti-democratic comments and his handling of the outbreak. The former president is protected from any imminent legal risk in Brazil by his journey to Florida.
Without addressing his predecessor by name, Lula declared, “We do not bear any spirit of vengeance against those who tried to subjugate the nation to their personal and ideological agendas, but we will ensure the rule of law. Those who made mistakes must take responsibility for them.
Additionally, he charged that the Bolsonaro administration engaged in “genocide” by neglecting to adequately address the COVID-19 virus, which claimed the lives of more than 680,000 Brazilians.
He remarked, “The perpetrators of this crime must be identified and held accountable.
Compared to Bolsonaro’s four years in office, which were marked by a retreat on Amazon rainforest environmental regulations, laxer gun laws, and poorer rights for minorities and indigenous peoples, Lula’s plans for administration offered a sharp contrast.
Brazil, one of the top food producers in the world, could become a green superpower, according to Lula. He reaffirmed his pledge to reversing Bolsonaro’s laxer gun laws, which led to a dramatic increase in gun ownership, and to stopping the Amazon deforestation that reached a 15-year high under Bolsonaro.
Brazil wants peace and security for its citizens, not more weaponry, he declared.
