Africa-Press – Cape verde. The President of the Republic, José́ Maria Neves, will be present at the inauguration of Luís Inácio da Silva, as President of Brazil, today, Sunday, January 1st. Umaro Sissoco Embalo (Guinea-Bissau), João Lourenço (Angola), Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa (Portugal) and José Ramos Horta (East Timor) are other heads of state of the Community of Portuguese Speaking Peoples (CPLP) who are present.
“The presence of President Neves at this ceremony marks the respect and friendship between our two peoples whose histories intersect and, more than that, underlines the will of our two Heads of State to strengthen relations, both bilaterally and and within the framework of South-South Cooperation”, reads the Press Release of the Presidency of the Republic of Cape Verde.
R epresentatives from around 120 countries, from different continents, will also be in Brasilia to witness the inauguration of Luís Inácio Lula da Silva, as president of the Federative Republic of Brazil, today, Sunday, January 1, 2023.
According to the organization, at least 17 heads of state, including presidents of the republic and monarchs, will be present at the ceremony. A number that is already considered a record, which is interpreted as a sign of the world’s willingness to return to relations with Brazil, the most populous and important country in South America, after four years of “isolationism” by Jair Bolsonaro, who practically only related to the USA of Donald Trump and one or another country. Even with one of Brazil’s main trading partners, China, Bolsonaro’s administration maintained several controversies.
Record presence of heads of state
“Never before in the history of this country has so many heads of state been present at an inauguration ceremony for a President of the Republic”, said this week Ambassador Fernando Igreja, who heads the ceremony at the presidential inauguration ceremony in Brasília.
So far, 17 heads of state have confirmed their presence, including the presidents of Germany, Angola, Argentina, Bolivia, Cape Verde, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Guinea-Bissau, Paraguay, Portugal, Suriname, East Timor, Uruguay and Zimbabwe, in addition to the King of Spain.
This number could, however, increase. President Nicolás Maduro, of Venezuela, it seems, has already made it known that he intends to be in Brasilia for the inauguration of “companion” Lula.
Security: Inauguration Day could be high tension in Brazil.
Lula da Silva’s investiture, in his return to the Presidency of Brazil, after an 11-year hiatus, is being surrounded by particular care and security measures. This is because sectors linked to Jair Bolsonaro insist on not recognizing their candidate’s defeat, last October, in two very close rounds.
As a result of the tense environment that has settled in Brazil in recent years, in which the extreme right has practically wiped the moderate right off the map, in various parts of Brazil there are camps of “Bolsonaristas”, even in the rain, begging for the intervention of the military to prevent Lula’s return to power. Monday could therefore be a day of high tension in Brazil.
For the rest, the behavior of the military, who played a prominent role in Bolsonaro’s presidency, is unknown to many observers. Several elements of it, on active duty or in reserve, have already been arrested by the police for alleged conspiracy.
Police abort bomb attack in Brasilia
Last week, a businessman named George Souza was arrested and accused of preparing a bomb attack in Brasilia. The idea, according to the press, was to blow up a fuel truck at Brasília airport, creating chaos, prompting the military to intervene.
George de Souza is referenced as a regular at one of the camps that these days demonstrated against Lula’s victory. The country’s new authorities have already called for an end to the camps, under penalty of more drastic intervention by the police and military.
Despite the fears, the Workers’ Party (PT), founded by Lula da Silva, expects to take more than 300,000 supporters to the Esplanada dos Ministérios on Monday to welcome the new Brazilian head of state at the Planalto Palace, seat of the Presidency, in Brasilia. In 2019, the number of citizens who went to applaud Jair Bolsonaro stood at 115 thousand.
Bolsonaro takes refuge in the US
Who will not be present at the ceremony tomorrow, Monday, is Jair Bolsonaro, whose mandate ended Saturday, 31. The Brazilian press on Wednesday, December 28, states that the still President of Pepública intends to leave the country tomorrow, Friday, and take refuge in another country, probably in the USA.
The destination, according to the same sources, would be the luxury resort in Palm Beach, Florida, whose owner is former US President Donald Trump, a friend of the Brazilian, and who would have offered him shelter.
Weeks ago, Bolsonaro’s children were at the Italian Embassy in Brasilia and asked for Italian nationality and passports for them and their father, as the family originates, albeit remote, in this European country.
Escape from prison
As Bolsonaro has not spoken to the press since his defeat in October and has never again gone to work at the Planalto Palace, supposedly because he was depressed, according to some sources, or because he was articulating an attempted coup d’état to prevent the taking of Lula’s tenure and remaining in power, according to other sources, it has not been possible to ask him about his supposed trip abroad.
Leaving Brazil before the end of his mandate and before losing the immunity that the position guarantees him, Jair Bolsonaro would be safe from a possible arrest request that he fears so much after Lula da Silva takes office, tomorrow, Monday. .
In the four years that he was at the head of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro was the protagonist of several actions, violating the laws of the republic, hence the risk of having to answer for the numerous processes that await him in court.
One of his most controversial measures was to pass a law imposing 100 years of secrecy on his actions as president of Brazil. Lula da Silva promised, during the election campaign, that if he were elected one of his first measures would be precisely to annul the diploma.
Uncertain future
The fact that he has practically ceased to appear in the media since he lost the elections has led the Brazilian press to question the real objectives of Jair Bolsonaro.
With his defeat, it was believed that he would preside over the Liberal Party (PL), for which he ran, but this thesis currently seems unlikely. After all, many of his supporters, even in the PL, practically want to see him behind his back.
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