With a significant participation of leaders from South America, 73 foreign delegations attended the inauguration of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) this Sunday (1st). One of the absences felt on the PT side was that of the Venezuelan dictator, Nicolás Maduro.
After greeting the new Chief Executive at the Planalto Palace, the representatives of the international delegations proceeded to the traditional cocktail reception at the Itamaraty Palace. The first to arrive at the headquarters of the Brazilian chancellery was the president of Portugal, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.
The Portuguese told reporters that he had a bilateral meeting scheduled with Lula on Monday (2) and that the Brazilian president’s trip to Portugal should take place in three months.
Lula’s inauguration already indicates a possible change in Brazil’s position in international geopolitics, with a significant number of delegations, many of which from countries that had distanced themselves from Brazil during the term of President Jair Bolsonaro (PL). The list of leaders present also indicates a new relationship with South American neighbors. Among others, presidents Alberto Fernández (Argentina), Gabriel Boric (Chile) and Gustavo Petro (Colombia) came to Brazil for the inauguration.
During the transition of government, the new chancellor Mauro Vieira stated that one of the priorities is to strengthen ties in Latin America, in particular within the scope of international forums abandoned by the Bolsonaro administration, such as Unasur and CELAC (Community of Latin American States and Caribbean).
After stalemates and upheavals, Maduro did not come to Brazil, and the Venezuelan delegation was represented by the president of the National Assembly, Jorge Rodriguez. The PT’s team expected to have the presence of the Chavista, but was aware of the difficulties due to an ordinance edited in 2019, during the Bolsonaro government, which barred the entry into Brazil of high authorities from the Caribbean country.
After articulation of the transitional cabinet, the Bolsonaro government revoked the ordinance on Friday (30), two days before inauguration. An advanced echelon of Venezuela landed in Brasilia on the eve of the ceremony to organize the dictator’s trip, but logistical impasses stopped Maduro’s arrival.
The cocktail at the Itamaraty Palace is the third solemn event of the PT’s inauguration. Lula paraded in an open car from the Cathedral of Brasília to Congress, where she took the oath and signed, alongside vice-president Geraldo Alckmin (PSB), the term of office. Then she went to Planalto, where she swore in the ministers and gave a speech.
The event at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had the confirmed presence of 73 delegations of heads and deputy heads of state, government and power, as well as chancellors and special envoys, with a large presence of South American leaders and CPLP countries (Community of Countries of Portuguese Language).
At the moment when the president of Uruguay, Luis Lacalle Pou, greeted Lula, there was a curious moment. Two former leaders of the South American country, José Pepe Mujica and Julio Sanguinetti, accompanied the current Uruguayan leader, and the trio took a photo with the PT member. The passage is a sample of the latent character of respect for democracy in Uruguay, since they all have different ideological orientations.
Among the Europeans, three countries selected heads of state, who hold mostly ceremonial positions: in addition to Portugal, with Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa; Spain, with King Philip VI, and Germany, with President Frank-Walter Steinmeier. The presidents of Angola (João Lourenço), Cape Verde (José Maria Neves) and East Timor (José Ramos-Horta) are other leaders who attended the ceremony.
The US was represented by the secretary of the Interior, Deb Haaland, and the United Arab Emirates, by the minister of state for international cooperation, Reem Al Hashimy. Other countries, such as Italy, India, Hungary and Poland, were represented by ambassadors residing in Brazil.
The number of foreign authorities, according to Ambassador Fernando Igreja, responsible for the inauguration ceremony, is greater than that of the 2016 Olympic Games, in Rio de Janeiro. In comparison with Bolsonaro’s inauguration, Lula achieved a more expressive attendance of foreign authorities.
There were 11 heads of state or government at the time, in 2019, with emphasis on ultra-right leaders with whom Bolsonaro sought alignment: the Prime Minister of Israel, Binyamin Netanyahu —who, coincidentally, has just returned to power—, and the Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. Another authority to draw attention at the event was the then president of Bolivia, Evo Morales, who is left-leaning.
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