Paula Lugones
01/19/2021 12:02
Clarín.com
World
Updated 01/19/2021 12:02
The
inauguration
ceremony of
Joe Biden
and Kamala Harris will definitely be unlike any in America's memory.
The democrat will be sworn in as the
46th president
this Wednesday amid a pandemic that has already claimed 400,000 deaths in the country and caused an economic crisis unprecedented in decades.
Added to this already dramatic situation is a transition bombarded by the outgoing president who has not yet admitted his defeat and will not attend the swearing in or greet his successor in the White House.
And as a corollary to this explosive cocktail, enormous tension is added due to threats to the security of the event, days after the assault on the Capitol by a mob of Donald Trump supporters.
The Capitol in the background, unreachable.
Photo: AFP
Some
25,000 members of the National Guard,
thousands of police officers and agents from various security forces are deployed in central Washington, which is fenced off and blocked as a militarized zone divided into a red and a green sector, according to restrictions.
Cement blocks, checkpoints, armor, barbed wire and camouflaged uniforms replaced the traditional dances and festivities of several days that usually mark the change of government.
The surroundings of the Capitol, the White House and the Mall (the huge green esplanade in the center of the city)
have been closed
for several days and the subway stops in the area blocked.
Due to the pandemic and much more now that there are strong fears for safety,
there will be few guests
at the ceremony and a large part of the parties will be held
virtually
.
As a preamble to the formal day of assumption, on Tuesday night (at 5.30 it is night in Washington) dozens of lights will be lit on the Mall, near the Lincoln Memorial water mirrors, with
thousands of American flags
, in tribute to the fatal victims of the pandemic.
The idea will be replicated in most of the large cities of the country.
The day that the Constitution indicates that the transfer of command must take place, on January 20, Trump is scheduled to leave the White House early with his wife Melania.
Tradition indicates that he should receive Biden and his wife Jill at the presidential mansion (it is possible that the Democratic couple will sleep in the house opposite, at the Blair House) and from there they all leave together to the ceremony.
But Trump decided he
would go
home to Florida early without running into the Bidens.
It will be the
first time in 152 years
that a president does not go to the oath of his successor.
Social distance
The swearing in will be at noon on the
steps of the Capitol
, where about 1,000 guests will be accommodated with social distance.
It is a tiny number of people because access for officials and journalists
has been limited to the extreme
.
Hundreds of thousands of people attend presidential inaugurations, but this time people are invited to
participate from their homes
.
Lady Gaga will sing the national anthem and Jennifer Lopez will have another musical participation.
Military trucks cut off access to Congress, where Biden will take office.
Photo: AFP
Biden will be sworn in by Chief Justice John Roberts and the Democrat, who is a practicing Catholic, will use
an old Bible
that belonged to his family.
In a very symbolic act, Harris, who will be the first woman and the first African American and Indian to be vice president of the country, will be anointed in her position before
Judge Sonia Sotomayor
, the first Latina in the High Court.
Biden will then deliver
his first speech
as president, which transcended that it will be focused on the fight against the pandemic, the economic reactivation and his idea of closing the deep wounds that have been opened in society during the Trump administration.
A parade in solitude
Barack and Michelle Obama greet during the 2013 inauguration ceremony. Photo: AP
Then he will move to the west front of the Capitol, where he
will review
the different military forces and then go to
Arlington Cemetery.
There he will lay an offering at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier along with former Presidents Barack Obama, George W Bush, Bill Clinton and their respective wives.
The other former president still alive, Democrat James Carter, 96, announced that he would not attend due to health issues.
From there Biden and his wife will travel part of Pennsylvania Avenue in the so-called Presidential Escort, from 15th Street to the White House, where they will be accompanied by
various military forces
who will play their instruments.
This parade, which usually takes place among thousands of supporters who greet the new president, will be held this time
almost alone.
Television screens in American homes will project the "Virtual Parade through the United States," featuring different communities, a way to showcase the diversity of the entire country.
No dances
Unlike other years, this time there will be no galas in Washington.
Photo: EFE
At 8.30 pm, a special called “Celebrating America” will be broadcast on television, which will show “the resistance, the heroism and the commitment of the people to heal and rebuild the country,” according to what they said from Biden's offices.
It will be hosted by
Tom Hanks and Eva Longoria
and will include performances in iconic country venues from the Foo Fighters, John Legend, Lin Manuel Miranda, Bruce Springsteen, Demi Lovato, Justin Timberlake, Ant Clemons and Jon Bon Jovi, among others.
It can also be viewed on YouTube and other social networks.
The parties and dances with guests from all over the country that usually flood the nights in the assumptions will be
absent
this time
.
Biden and his wife will sleep in the White House for the first time.
In these times of crisis, the president has already prepared
a battery of decrees
to begin governing the same day of his inauguration.
The deep crisis does not admit of delays.
Washington, correspondent
ap
Look also
Change in the White House: new mattresses, disinfection and Trump with his own ceremony, red carpet and farewell salutes
Interview: "Joe Biden could be the right man at the right time"
