Brazil: Mr. Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is set to be inaugurated for a third term as Brazilian President in a ceremony underlining the deep divisions the veteran leftist inherits.
Mr. Lula will walk to the Planalto palace to don the presidential sash in front of 30,000 supporters at 3 PM after the ceremony in Congress and some 300,000 people are anticipated to come to celebrate on the esplanade in Brasilia.
77-year-old Mr. Lula narrowly defeated Bolsonaro in October to win an extraordinary third presidential term following a break during which he spent an additional year and a half in prison due to corruption charges that were eventually overturned.
About 8,000 police including more than 1,000 federal officers, a record deployment for a presidential inauguration in Brazil, will provide security, as per the report. The increased security comes after a Bolsonaro fan was detained last week for plotting to “sow chaos” in the South American nation by detonating a tanker truck near the airport of Brasilia.
Thousands of Lula supporters have been flooding the capital, travelling by plane, car and even bicycle to camp out near the Esplanade of Ministries. Outgoing leader Mr. Bolsonaro left Brazil for Florida, avoiding having to hand over the sash to his rival, whose victory he has yet to recognize, while also removing himself from any immediate legal risks related to his time in office.
It will be the first time since the end of Brazil’s 1965-1985 military dictatorship that an incoming president does not receive the yellow-and-green sash from his predecessor.