Brazil's Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, 76, was sworn in as president on Sunday, January 1, and in his first address expressed optimism about plans to rebuild while pledging that members of outgoing Jair Bolsonaro's administration will be held to account.

“I promise to maintain, defend and fulfill the constitution, observe the laws, promote the general good of the Brazilian people, and support the unity, integrity and independence of Brazil,” Lula said.

Lula da Silva , returning to the presidency after a 12 year hiatus, arrived with his wife, Rosângela da Silva, at the Metropolitan Cathedral in Brasília at 12:20 p.m. local time before heading to congress where a formal congressional session took place.

The Senate president opened the ceremony by paying respects to Pelé and Pope Benedict with a minute of silence.
When we arrived at the San Benedict church in Piaui after the 1989 demonstration, a resident gave me this pen and urged me to use it to sign in if I won the election that year. I was unsuccessful in winning the election in 1989, 1994, and 1998. I was the winner in 2002, but I forgot my pen when I got here, so I used a senator's pen to sign. I used the Senate pen to sign in 2006, and I've now discovered it. I'm using it now in honour of the people of Piaui state, he added.

A military honours ceremony held outside the presidential palace was later attended by the newly-elected president and first wife while riding in an open automobile procession.

Bolsonaro was conspicuously absent from the ceremony; he left Brazil on Friday for Florida and left no return date.

The Brazilian custom of outgoing leaders attending their successors' inauguration ceremonies is broken by his trip to the United States. It happened at the same time that the Brazilian government published an order on Friday allowing Bolsonaro, the "future ex-president," to travel with five civil servants to Miami, Florida, between January 1 and December 31, 2023.

Brazil is in turmoil and is divided as Lula returns to office