Lula takes office for third term as Brazil president

Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva took office on Sunday for a third term as Brazil's president, in a ceremony snubbed by outgoing leader Jair Bolsonaro, underlining the deep divisions the veteran leftist inherits.

The 77-year-old ex-metalworker, who previously led Brazil from 2003 to 2010, took the oath of office before Congress, vowing to "maintain, defend and obey the constitution" as he returns to lead Latin America's biggest economy after a bitterly divisive election in October.

Lula wore a blue suit and tie for the swearing-in, which began with a minute's silence for Brazilian football legend Pele and former pope Benedict XVI, who both died in recent days.

It capped a remarkable political comeback for Lula, who returns to the presidential palace less than five years after being jailed on controversial, since-quashed corruption charges.

In a sign of the scars that remain from Lula's brutal election showdown with far-right ex-army captain Bolsonaro in October, security was exceptionally tight at the pomp-filled ceremony in Brasilia.

Some 8,000 police were deployed, after a Bolsonaro supporter was arrested last week for planting a tanker truck rigged with explosives near the capital's airport, a plot he said aimed to "sow chaos" in the South American country.

Police said they arrested another man on Sunday who tried to enter the secured inaugural ceremony area carrying a knife and fireworks.

Bolsonaro himself left Brazil for the US state of Florida Friday -- reportedly to avoid having to hand the presidential sash to his bitter enemy, as tradition dictates.

The snub has hardly dampened the party spirit for Lula and the tens of thousands of people who turned out for the New Year's Day ceremony and a massive celebration concert featuring acts ranging from samba legend Martinho da Vila to drag queen Pabllo Vittar.

Thousands of Lula supporters from around the country formed massive lines to filter through the security cordon, belting out pro-Lula chants.

"I'm excited beyond measure," retired teacher Zenia Maria Soares Pinto, 71, told AFP after traveling 30 hours by bus from the southern state of Santa Catarina.

"I have so much admiration for his humility, his commitment to ensuring the people live in dignity," added Pinto, part of a crowd cheering for Lula outside the hotel where the new president spent the night.

It will be the first time since the end of Brazil's 1965-1985 military dictatorship that an incoming president does not receive the yellow-and-green sash from his predecessor.