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Brazil’s new President Jair Bolsonaro (centre) waves a national flag while addressing supporters flanked by First Lady Michelle Bolsonaro and Brazil's new Vice-President Hamilton Mourao, during their inauguration ceremony at Planalto Palace in Brasilia on Tuesday. Photo: Agence France-Presse

‘Trump of the tropics’ Jair Bolsonaro sworn as Brazil’s president, declares war on crime and political correctness

  • An ardent admirer of US President Donald Trump, Bolsonaro has vowed to move this nation away from its left-leaning foreign policy
  • Bolsonaro is the latest of several far-right leaders around the globe who have come to power by riding waves of anger

Jair Bolsonaro, a former army captain who has promised radical measures to cut soaring crime and widespread corruption, was sworn in as president on Tuesday, marking Brazil’s starkest shift to the right since its return to democracy three decades ago.

Bolsonaro, 63, rode a populist revolt against the traditional political class to take the presidency. He has pledged to take South America’s largest nation in a new direction - adopting an iron-fisted approach to crime, allowing citizens to arm themselves for self-defense, and promoting more development in the environmentally sensitive Amazon.

An ardent admirer of US President Donald Trump, Bolsonaro has vowed to move this nation away from its left-leaning foreign policy.

In his first public speech wearing the presidential sash, Bolsonaro said Brazil will “start to free itself of socialism” and “political correctness”, breaking with policies brought in under decades of leftist rule.

“I invite all of Congress to join me in the mission to restore and rebuild our homeland, liberating it from corruption, crime, economic irresponsibility and ideological traps,” Bolsonaro said shortly after being sworn in.

With Bolsonaro’s inauguration, Latin America’s two biggest economies are now in the hands of anti-establishment populists.

The presidential convoy heads to the National Congress for the swearing-in ceremony. Photo: AFP

Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, a leftist, took office in Mexico on December 1. But while Lopez Obrador won a reputation as a pragmatist while in a previous job as mayor of Mexico City, the new Brazilian leader appears more unpredictable.

Bolsonaro is an ardent supporter of the military regime that ruled Brazil from 1964 to 1985 and is the most conservative ruler to come to power in the region in decades.

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His vice-president and several key ministers are former military officers. Lawmakers who support the new president greeted him in Congress on Tuesday by pointing their fingers in the shape of a gun.

In his speech to lawmakers, Bolsonaro promised to reduce bureaucratic regulations, promote a more free-market economic policy and protect police officers.

He hinted that he would try to loosen gun laws, saying, saying “a good citizen deserves methods of defending himself”.

Brazil's outgoing leader Michel Temer and his wife Marcela Temer wait for new President Jair Bolsonaro, his wife Michelle Bolsonaro during the inauguration ceremony in Brasilia. Photo: Xinhua

That move, though, could be challenged by Congress. Even more difficult may be injecting steam into the sluggish Brazilian economy, which analysts say will require broad austerity measures. Bolsonaro will need to mediate between the country’s three dozen political parties, which will demand compromise and political skill.

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The former paratrooper received swift congratulations via Twitter from Trump, with whom he shares a similar, brash style and outlook.

“Congratulations to President @jairbolsonaro who just made a great inauguration speech – the U.S.A. is with you!” Trump wrote.

Bolsonaro responded by saying: “I truly appreciate your words of encouragement. Together, under God’s protection, we shall bring prosperity and progress to our people!”

Authorities said they expected a half-million spectators to attend inaugural events, but the crowds appeared thinner.

Still, thousands of people filled the Praca dos tres Poderes, a massive lawn akin to the National Mall in Washington DC, for Bolsonaro’s first speech to the public on Tuesday. Supporters wore shirts featuring the new president’s face and waved Brazilian flags.

The government launched the largest security operation ever for a presidential inauguration, mobilising over 3,000 police officers, firefighters, and soldiers.

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Bolsonaro was wounded by a knife-wielding assailant during the campaign, and he takes office at a moment when the country is deeply polarised.

Many Brazilians oppose Bolsonaro for his history of incendiary statements - he has insulted women and minorities and said he prefers a dead son to a gay one.

Supporters of Brazilian newly inaugurated President Jair Bolsonaro listen to his speech. Photo: EPA

In his speech to Congress on Tuesday, Bolsonaro struck a conciliatory tone, saying “I reaffirm my commitment to building a society without discrimination or division”.

Once a darling of the global left for its progressive welfare policies, Brazil is set to become a bastion of conservatism in Latin America.

The leftist Workers’ Party, which dominated Brazilian politics from 2003 to 2016, boycotted the ceremony.

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The party was resoundingly defeated in the October election, with many citizens blaming it for a devastating recession from which Brazil is only now emerging.

In foreign policy, Bolsonaro has signalled he plans major changes and that he may follow Trump’s lead on some issues.

For example, he has threatened to pull out of the Paris climate accords, and said he will relocate Brazil’s embassy in Israel to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv.

Brazil's new President Jair Bolsonaro said his country will ‘start to free itself of socialism’ and ‘political correctness’. Photo: Reuters

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo flew to Brasilia for the inauguration, as did Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Meanwhile, the incoming Brazilian government rescinded invitations to the inauguration that had been sent to Cuban and Venezuelan leaders, traditional allies of the Workers’ Party.

Offensive things Brazil’s new president Jair Bolsonaro has said

Like Trump, Bolsonaro upended politics as usual in Brazil, winning the presidency through a social media heavy campaign fuelled by popular anger.

Many Brazilians, wary of established politicians after a corruption scandal tainted vast swaths of the country’s political elite, saw in Bolsonaro an outsider they could trust.

As a fringe politician with few alliances, Bolsonaro was one of the few to emerge unscathed from the scandals.

Though Bolsonaro promised after the election to be a leader to all of Brazil’s 200 million people, on the eve of the inauguration, he tweeted a vow to rid Brazilian schools of “Marxist trash,” slipping back into the divisive rhetoric that got him elected.

Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: p opulist presi dent takes the Re ins
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