Lula da Silva's speech, in ten sentences

Lula da Silva, president of Brazil, during his speech in front of a crowd of supporters at the Planalto Palace, in Brasilia (Brazil), on January 1, 2023. ADRIANO MACHADO (REUTERS)

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and is president of Brazil.

After being invested in by Congress, he read a long speech structured around two basic ideas: the new government will focus on the "reconstruction" of Brazil, which he considered "destroyed" by his predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro, and will fight against poverty , as, he said, he already did during the first two governments.

Minutes later he repeated the same concepts, but from the esplanade of the Planalto Palace.

He was no longer heard by legislators and guests in Congress, but by tens of thousands of people who came to the Plaza of the Three Powers in Brasilia to see the new president.

This is a summary of the ten most relevant phrases from Lula's speeches.

Reconstruction

“Today, our message for Brazil is one of hope and reconstruction.

The great edifice of rights, sovereignty and development that this nation built starting in 1988 has been systematically demolished in recent years.

We are going to direct all our efforts to rebuild that building of national rights and values”.

More information

Inauguration of Lula da Silva as president of Brazil, live

Poverty

“I assume the commitment to take care of all Brazilian men and women and to end hunger.

I will get people out of queues at butcher shops to order bones to eat.

Far from any nostalgia, our legacy will be the mirror of the future of what we are going to do for our country”.

Weapons

“We are revoking the criminal decrees to expand access to weapons and ammunition, which caused so much insecurity and so much harm to Brazilian families.

Brazil cannot and does not want the weapons in the hands of the people.

Brazil needs security, books and culture”.

Inequality

“We must fight with all our might against everything that makes Brazil so unequal.

We must form a broad front that involves the whole of society in the fight against inequality.

It is a time of union and reconstruction of our country.

I call for a fairer and more democratic country.

I ask each one of you that today's joy be the raw material of tomorrow's fight."

Democracy

“Democracy was the great victor of our election, surpassing the greatest mobilization of public and private resources that was seen.

We face the most violent threats to the freedom of the people, the most abject hate campaign designed to manipulate the electorate.

On the winds of democratization, we say 'dictatorship never again'.

Today we must say 'democracy forever'.

zero dismount

“No other country has the conditions to position itself as an environmental power, we are going to start the energy and ecological transition.

Our goal is to achieve zero greenhouse gas emissions and zero deforestation in the Amazon.

We are going to live without cutting down a tree.

At the same time, we are going to denounce all the injustices committed against indigenous peoples”.

fake news

“Never have voters been so contaminated with lies disseminated on an industrial scale.

We defend full freedom of expression, we will create democratic instances of access to reliable information”.

Social help

“We are going to promote a global Bolsa Família program, broader and more global, to lift millions of hungry people out of poverty.”

Labor rights

“We are going to have a tripartite dialogue—the government, trade union centrals, and employers—on a new labor law.

We will guarantee the freedom to undertake, together with social protection, it is a great challenge of these times”.

Education

"We are going to recompose the budget for Education, we are going to invest more in universities, in technical schools, in the universalization of Internet access and in the expansion of daycare centers and full-time education"

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