São Paulo – After being sworn in for the third time on Sunday, January 1, 2023, Brazil’s president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva went up the ramp of the Planalto Palace in Brasília and received the presidential sash from citizens that represented the diversity of the Brazilian people.
Lula is the only president elected three times in a democracy. “I will govern for the 215 million Brazilians, not only for those who voted for me. I will govern for all of them, looking to our bright common future, not through the rearview mirror of a past,” he said in the Parlatory for thousands of Brazilians who went to Brasília.
After being sworn in, the president of Brazil received the greetings of heads of state and government and special envoys from over 65 countries to Brazil to honor the presidential inauguration. Coupled with ambassadors and diplomatic corps, 125 countries were represented.
The inauguration was attended by Spanish king Philip VI, as well as presidents of Germany, Angola, Argentina, Boliva, Cape Verde, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guiana, Guinea-Bissau, Honduras, Paraguay, Portugal, Suriname, East Timor, and Uruguay. Prime Ministers of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Mali also attended, as well as the first lady of Mexico.
Other representatives of countries like Peru, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Lesotho, Russia, the Dominican Republic, Mozambique, Jamaica, Equatorial Guinea, Serbia, Venezuela, Turkey, Guatemala, Gaban, Zimbabwe, Haiti, Nicaragua, South Africa, Cameroon, São Tomé and Príncipe, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Kenya, France, Singapura, Cambodia and others greeted the president.
Two former presidents of Uruguay also went to greet Lula, Julio María Sanguinetti (1995-2000) and José Pepe Mujica (2010-2015). They both accompanied Uruguayan president Luis Alberto Lacalle Pou In the formal greeting to the new president of Brazil. Bolivia’s former president Evo Morales also attended the ceremony to congratulate Lula.
The president was accompanied at all times by first lady Janja Lula da Silva, vice president Geraldo Alckmin and second lady Lu Alckmin.
Arab visitors
From Arab countries came Morocco’s prime minister Aziz Akhannouch, Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Affairs minister Faisal Bin Farhan Al-Saud, Qatar’s State minister Fahad bin Faisal Al-Thani; United Arab Emirates’ International Cooperation State minister Reem Al Hashimy; Algeria’s assembly president Ibrahim Boughali, and Palestine’s Foreign Affairs minister Riad Malki.
The inauguration in Brasília was also attended by the ambassadors of Kuwait, Nasser Almotairi; Egypt, Wael Aboulmagd; Bahrain, Bader Alhelaibi; Jordan, Maen Masadeh; Oman, Talal Alrahbi; and Syria, Rania Alhaj Ali; as well as the ambassador of the League of Arab States, Qais Shqair, and diplomatic representatives from Lebanon, Mauritania, Libya, and Sudan.
Ambassador Fernando Igreja, who represented Brazil in the UAE until mid-2022, was the head of the presidential inauguration ceremony.
*With information from Agência Brasil.
Translated by Guilherme Miranda
