The Americas | Big plans, not much money

Brazil’s new president faces a fiscal crunch and a fickle Congress

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was sworn in on January 1st, 20 years after first taking office

TOPSHOT - Brazil's new President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (C), accompanied by his wife First Lady Rosangela "Janja" da Silva (R) and indigenous Brazilian leader and environmentalist Raoni Metuktire, known as Chief Raoni, after receiving the presidential sash from community representatives at Planalto Palace after his inauguration ceremony at the National Congress, in Brasilia, on January 1, 2023. - Lula da Silva, a 77-year-old leftist who already served as president of Brazil from 2003 to 2010, takes office for the third time with a grand inauguration in Brasilia. (Photo by Sergio Lima / AFP) (Photo by SERGIO LIMA/AFP via Getty Images) — Image: Getty Images

Dec 31st 2022|Brasília

On January 1st Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva looked out from the ramp at Planalto Palace, the Brazilian president’s office, at a sea of supporters dressed in red. The crowd resembled the one that greeted him at his first inauguration in 2003. Brazil’s fortunes have risen and fallen since then. So have those of Lula, as the former union organiser and founder of the left-wing Workers’ Party (PT) is known. He left office in 2010 with an 83% approval rating. From 2018 he spent 19 months in jail on corruption charges that were later annulled. In October 2022 he completed a remarkable political comeback by beating Jair Bolsonaro, the right-wing populist incumbent, in a bitterly fought presidential election.

This article appeared in the The Americas section of the print edition under the headline “Big plans, not much money”