President Lula takes office as Brazil celebrates

02.01.2003 10.46 am

BRASILIA, Brazil - Former metalworker Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva became Brazil's first working-class president on Wednesday, (Thursday NZT) as tens of thousands celebrated the historic changeover in Latin America's largest country.

At the sleek, modernist Congress in the capital, Brasilia, Lula took the oath of office as the first leftist elected to the presidency. Supporters from across the nation cheered outside as he promised to change the country's course to improve the lot of Brazil's working majority.

He cited his own struggle against poverty as proof that the continent-sized nation had the resources to overcome a long list of problems including escalating crime, a stagnating economy and rising unemployment.

"When I see my own life as an immigrant from the Northeast, a boy who sold peanuts and oranges at the port of Santos... who is now the president, I am convinced we can do much more, and to do so all we need is to believe in ourselves," Lula said. "We are starting a new chapter in Brazil's history."

Before reaching the convertible Rolls Royce that took him to receive the presidential sash from outgoing President Fernando Henrique Cardoso, Lula was mobbed by cheering fans.

It was the first time in 40 years an elected president passed the sash to another elected president.

Some broke through police guards simply to touch their new leader, while one stubborn supporter stopped Lula long enough to snap a picture alongside the gray bearded 57-year-old, who took the oath in a dark suit and striped tie.

With the humble classes that gave him a record-breaking 52 million votes in his fourth attempt at the presidency in mind, Lula organized a party for the people rather than for dignitaries.

Despite rain, festivities kicked off early with country music. More than 150,000 people were expected to converge on the city's central lawn for celebrations.

At the stark, white Planalto presidential palace, Cardoso capped off his second four-year term by handing Lula the sash decorated with the yellow and green of the Brazilian flag.

As Air Force planes swooped in formation over the city, revelers celebrated as they would for Brazil's world-famous soccer victories, driving along the sweeping avenues of the capital, honking horns, and dancing in a sea of green, yellow and deep red, the color of Lula's leftist Workers' Party.

In a country with one of the worst wealth distributions in the world, only surpassed by three African nations, the arrival of a man who never made it past elementary school to the highest office heralded a new beginning for the nation's 170 million people, 53 million of whom live in poverty.

Many of those present spent days on Brazil's bumpy highways, including Lula's 21 relatives from his poor hometown of Caetes, a caravan that drew cheers along the 2400km journey.

Although the New Year's holiday kept some heads of state from attending, most presidents from neighbouring countries were on hand, including Fidel Castro of Cuba and Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, two leftists who have supported Lula in his long quest for the presidency.

The world will watch Lula's management of a nation now seen as a model of democracy in a region troubled by political upheaval, particularly in neighboring Argentina and Venezuela.

• REUTERS