Following an alleged bomb plot by a Jair Bolsonaro fan, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will be inaugurated as president of Brazil for an unprecedented third term on Sunday.
For the left-wing leader’s inauguration, which was planned to combine political pomp and grandeur with a festival-style celebration with live music, hundreds of thousands of people converged on Brazil. Attendees started to gather in the morning on the main esplanade of the capital city, many of them wearing the red of Lula’s Workers’ party and carrying flags and pictures of his face.
A public sector employee in his 60s named Nilton Calez left his home in the state of So Paulo at 8am to take a bus with friends. It’s a significant victory for us and the outcome we’ve all been hoping for. Bolsonaro destroyed this nation. He declared in opposition to honking car horns, “He’ll never win again. “Lula has already demonstrated that he will be a terrific president. He gave aid to the needy. Bolsonaro took no action.
The relaxed tone was in stark contrast to the attitude of Bolsonaro supporters, hundreds of whom have been camping out for months outside military installations across the nation demanding that the armed services nullify the results of the elections held in October. The vanquished right-wing populist slyly departed Brazil for Florida on Friday night to avoid the occasion.
Bolsonaro’s exit dismayed his more extreme supporters, who had thought he would challenge the results of the election, which they asserted was manipulated without providing any proof. Additionally, it indicates that he will forego the custom of transferring the presidential sash to his successor. After the most closely contested election since the country’s return to democracy in 1985, Lula was scheduled to give a speech emphasizing unity.
Three years after his release from prison, the former metalworker’s election to the presidency marked the culmination of an incredible political comeback. Between 2003 to 2010, the man who is known as Lula led Brazil for two terms. But the 77-year-old former metalworker is up against a number of obstacles as he tries to keep his campaign promises, which include saving the Amazon rainforest and ending hunger.
The symbol of the Latin American left must contend with a highly divided country in addition to fiscal challenges and a dimmed future for the largest economy in the continent. The obstacles are more severe now than they were in 2003, according to Graziella Testa, a political scientist at the Getlio Vargas Foundation. The first is how the government will react to radical organizations that openly oppose democracy and the election results. In a second-round run-off, Lula defeated the incumbent, a far-right populist once dubbed the “Trump of the Tropics,” with 51.9% of the vote..
Bolsonaro, a former army captain, supported liberalism in economic policy, gun ownership, and conservative principles while downplaying the severity of COVID-19 and weakening environmental protection.
After a 54-year-old man who had come to the capital to participate in protests was detained on Christmas Eve in connection with an explosive device discovered in a fuel tanker close to the airport, tensions grew. According to the suspect, the intention was to “sow havoc” and incite a state of emergency. The disruption that occurred in Brasilia a few weeks prior, when rioters tried to attack a police building and set cars on fire, was followed by this episode. Over the previous week, several arrests were made.
According to Renato Sérgio de Lima, president of the Brazilian Public Security Forum, Lula’s inauguration would have the “largest security apparatus in decades” amidst this tense environment.
“Ideological radicalization and domestic terrorism now have a new component. They pose risks that weren’t previously considered, therefore this demands maximal attention, he said.
The first two terms of Lula’s presidency fell during a time of rapid economic expansion, declining poverty, and Brazil’s ascent to global prominence.
However, his hand-picked successor, Dilma Rousseff, soiled it with corruption scandals and economic ineptitude. Because of the murky history of his Workers’ party, or PT, many Brazilians mistrust the former labor unionist.
The culmination of its 13 years in power was the 2016 impeachment of Rousseff, the worst economic downturn in Brazil’s history, and a massive political bribery scandal.
Lula himself was found guilty of graft and sentenced to 580 days in prison. However, the convictions were overturned by the top court in 2021, opening the door for his candidacy. During Lula’s first term, the nation benefited from a boom in commodities, but the situation with the world economy is currently less favorable. Brazil’s gross domestic product growth is anticipated to decrease from 3% in 2022 to less than 1% in 2023. Investors are concerned that Lula’s plans to spend more on infrastructure and welfare will put more pressure on the government’s budget, increase taxes, and force the central bank to maintain double-digit interest rates for longer.
“The president-biggest elect’s difficulty will be the constrained fiscal environment. According to Wagner Parente, CEO of BMJ Consulting, “it will not be possible to rely on the external scenario to deliver money for a growth in spending.
