BRASILIA – Brazil’s hugely popular President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva steps down Saturday in a lavish ceremony ushering in his successor and protegee, Dilma Rousseff. Her ascension will give Latin America’s biggest economy its first-ever female president.
It is certain to be an emotional farewell for Lula, a one-time shoeshine boy and factory metalworker who proved it was possible in his country to go from poverty to the ultimate position of power. He was constitutionally barred from seeking a third consecutive term.
For most Brazilians, his era will be remembered as one of increasing prosperity, in which their country’s importance swelled on the world stage.
Rousseff is to kick off the ceremony inaugurating her four-year mandate at 2:15 pm (1615 GMT) with a ride through Brazil’s capital in an open-top Rolls-Royce.
After stopping at the Brazilian Congress, she will join Lula at the presidential palace, where he will drape her in the green-and-gold Brazilian official sash and the two will greet visiting heads of state and government, mostly from Latin America. Rousseff will then give her first speech to the nation as president, likely emphasizing the importance of becoming the first female head of state – and her debt to Lula in getting her elected.
The 63-year-old Rousseff – a former guerrilla and trained economist who was Lula’s cabinet chief before she decided to run to succeed him – has vowed to maintain the policies that have seen Brazil grow economically and politically to become one of the leading emerging nations. Reducing the country’s vast rich-poor gap is her stated priority, but she will also face challenges in preparing Brazil to host the 2014 football World Cup and the 2016 Olympics.
