‘This nightmare is over’: Lula vows to pull Brazil out of Bolsonaro’s era of ‘devastation’

Author:
Tom Phillips

Leftwinger promises environmental protections and social progress as he’s sworn in as president.

A tearful Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has vowed to haul Brazil out of Jair Bolsonaro’s era of “devastation” and kickstart a new phase of reconciliation, environmental preservation and social justice after being sworn in as president.

Fighting back tears as he addressed tens of thousands of supporters who had packed the plaza outside the presidential palace in Brasília, Lula declared the end of “one of the worst periods in Brazilian history” under the former far-right president.

“[It was] an era of darkness, uncertainty and great suffering … but this nightmare is over,” Lula said, vowing to reunite the bitterly divided South American country and govern not just for those who elected him in October’s historic election, but all 215 million Brazilians

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