The Government of Mexico celebrates the arrival of Lula to power in Brazil

Dr. Beatriz Gutiérrez Müller, wife of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, celebrated the brotherly relationship between Mexico and Brazil.

In his swearing-in, Lula da Silva issued a harsh accusation against former far-right leader Jair Bolsonaro and promised a drastic change of course to rescue what he called a ruined nation.

In a speech to Congress after officially taking the reins of Latin America’s largest country, the leftist said democracy was the real winner of October’s presidential election, when it defeated Bolsonaro in the most tense vote in a generation.

Bolsonaro, who traveled to the United States on Friday after refusing to concede defeat, rocked Brazil’s fledgling democracy with unsubstantiated claims of electoral weakness that spawned a violent movement of election deniers.

“Democracy was the great victor, overcoming… the most violent threats to voting freedom and the most abject campaign of lies and hate conspired to manipulate and shame the electorate,” Lula told lawmakers.

He issued a veiled threat to Bolsonaro, who faces increasing legal risks for his anti-democratic rhetoric and his handling of the pandemic now that he no longer has presidential immunity.

“We have no 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. “Whoever made a mistake will answer for his mistakes”.

-With information from Anthony Boadle and Gabriel Stargardter, from the Reuters agency.