The Esplanada dos Ministérios in Brasilia began to fill up with red, in an authentic Carnival after hours for the inauguration of Lula da Silva as the new President of Brazil.
“The Party of the Future”, organized by the wife of Lula da Silva, officially began at 10:00 a.m. (1:00 p.m. in Lisbon) with a procession led by people from the popular and traditional cultures of the Portuguese-speaking giant such as such as the toré, the bumba meu boi, afoxé, maracatus, fanfares, guitar players, capoeira groups, rural samba, frevo blocks, carnival blocks, Afro blocks, indigenous peoples, peoples of African origin, among others.
From Olinda, a city in the state of Pernambuco with one of the most famous carnivals in the country, a group of more than 50 people arrived by car, plane or bus. Everything is worth it “because Brazil is back”, Rita from Pernambuco tells Lusa.
“This Bloc was founded in 1977, still during the military dictatorship. And Carnival is political, we only know what happened in the last four years. Olinda was always on the side of Lula and democracy,” said the northeastern region where Lula he won 69.34% of the vote. valid votes, being the only region where the PT candidate registered more votes than Bolsonaro, in an election decided by just over two million votes, the most balanced in the history of the Portuguese-speaking giant, with more than 220 million population.
“Make a dignified government that combats inequality and dignifies the people of the Northeast,” Rita concluded.
A little further back, still reaching the crowd, a group of young people from Brasília strolled around wearing dark glasses, covering up the first signs of New Year’s Eve. One stops for two seconds and tells his friends: “It smells, it already smells of democracy.”
“You come, you come, I already hear your signals”, is sung among the crowd that marches to the rhythm of the carnivalesque blocks.
At 10:30 a.m., the Elza Soares stage began, one of the two stages enabled to house more than 60 artists who will perform until dawn.
“Brasília, Capital of All Rhythms”, was the opening motto of this stage, inspired by the federal capital, “which is born from the participation of people who emigrated from all corners of Brazil and vibrates with MPB, pop, samba, rock, sertanejo, maracatu, reggae, rap, funk and other rhythms”.
It now remains for the crowd in red to party and dance until 12:30 p.m., when Lula da Silva and his vice president, Geraldo Alkimin, enter the scene with a parade from the Esplanada dos Ministérios, towards the Palace of Congress. Nacional, seat of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate.
Giuliana Miranda, a Brazilian journalist and president of the Association of the Foreign Press in Portugal (AIEP), hopes for a message of unity, especially since Bolsonaro’s supporters are still active.
“There is a minority that will remain radicalized, but everything indicates that the new government will not maintain the policy of permissiveness with anti-democratic demonstrations that call for a coup and a reversal of the legitimate result of the polls. part of the Armed Forces were not in collusion with these behaviors. This is something that will be investigated and the ministers of Lula da Silva’s government have already said that they intend to combat this. So it seems very difficult for this to continue, ”he explained to TSF Juliana Miranda.
The Palace of the National Congress is the place where the inauguration takes place, granting the “commitment to maintain, defend and comply with the Constitution, observe the laws, promote the general good of the Brazilian people, sustain the union, integrity and independence of Brazil”, according to the Brazilian Constitution.
Lula da Silva will address the National Congress, in a session led by the President of the National Congress, Rodrigo Pacheco.
After this solemn session, at 4:20 p.m. (7:20 p.m. in Lisbon), the Brazilian president, Lula da Silva, will receive the presidential sash, which this time will not be delivered by his predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro.
The outgoing head of state, who served a term, left on Friday for the United States, where he is expected to stay at a ‘resort’ in Palm Beach, owned by former US President Donald Trump, so he will miss the inauguration ceremony. this is marked by the moment of the delivery of the presidential sash, by the outgoing President to his successor, a symbolic gesture that has been respected by all presidents since Brazil regained democracy in 1985, after 21 years of dictatorship.
Later, Lula da Silva travels to the Itamaraty Palace, headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to hold a reception with several foreign guests from more than 65 foreign delegations, including heads of state, vice presidents, heads of diplomacy, special envoys and representatives. of international organizations.
The celebrations will be attended by the Portuguese President, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, João Gomes Cravinho, and the former Prime Minister and personal friend of Lula da Silva, José Sócrates.
Source: TSF
