Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is set to be inaugurated Sunday for a third term as Brazil's president, in a ceremony snubbed by outgoing leader Jair Bolsonaro, underlining the deep divisions the veteran leftist inherits.
The swearing-in will cap a remarkable political comeback for 77-year-old Lula, who returns to the presidential palace less than five years after being jailed on controversial, since-quashed corruption charges. Ernesto Benavides/ AFP/ File photoLuiz Inacio Lula da Silva is set to be inaugurated Sunday for a third term as Brazil's president, in a ceremony snubbed by outgoing leader Jair Bolsonaro, underlining the deep divisions the veteran leftist inherits.
Bolsonaro himself left Brazil for the US state of Florida Friday—reportedly to avoid having to hand the presidential sash to his bitter enemy, as tradition dictates. "I'm excited beyond measure," retired teacher Zenia Maria Soares Pinto, 71, told AFP after traveling 30 hours by bus from the southern state of Santa Catarina.
They include the presidents of a raft of Latin American countries, Germany, Portugal and the king of Spain. Organizers of the ceremony—led by first lady-to-be Rosangela "Janja" da Silva—have kept secret who will give Lula the sash in Bolsonaro's absence.