Sao Paulo [Brazil]: Brazil’s far-right president-elect and controversial Social Liberal Party candidate Jair Bolsonaro has been sworn in as the 42nd President of the country.
During a ceremony, organised on Tuesday, in the capital Brasilia, Bolsonaro took charge of the office in the presence of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and a ministerial delegation from the United States headed by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Al Jazeera reported.
Last year, by the end of October, Bolsonaro, a former army captain, was elected as the President after defeating ex-Sao Paulo mayor and Workers Party (PT) candidate Fernando Haddad. Statistics from a Datafolha poll indicated that 56 per cent of Brazilian voters favoured Bolsonaro as their next President, with the rest 44 per cent supporting Haddad.
During his election campaign, Bolsonaro had promised to crack down on recession, a heightening sense of insecurity, and corruption scandals, which are among major factors rampant across the South American country.
Tuesday’s ceremony took place amid heavy security including snipers and anti-aircraft missiles, especially after Bolsonaro became a victim of a failed attempt of assassination when he was stabbed during his campaign event in the state of Minas Gerais in September, last year.
During a meeting held here between Bolsonaro and Netanyahu, the new Brazilian President expressed his intentions to move the Brazilian embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem once he assumes office. The move will follow the lead of the US President Donald Trump-led administration, which acknowledged Jerusalem as the Israeli capital last year and, in May, shifted their embassy from Tel Aviv.
On this very occasion, President Trump took to Twitter saying, “Congratulations to President. @JairBolsonaro who just made a great inauguration speech – the U.S.A. is with you!”
[source_without_link]ANI[/source_without_link]