Lula revokes Bolsonaro's acts upon taking office
President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva (PT) took office this Sunday (1st) in a ceremony marked by symbolism, promises, and criticism of the government that preceded him. In one of the first measures after taking office, Lula determined that the Comptroller General of the Union reassess in 30 days the secrecy decreed by Jair Bolsonaro (PL). During the former president's term, the government expanded the scope of the analysis of what was considered personal data of government members. The new interpretation meant that some information from the government and its members gained 100-year secrecy. The reassessment of secrecy was announced with other acts signed by the politician who took over the Presidency of the Republic for the third time. Lula also signed measures regarding gun control, the fight against environmental crime and deforestation, and incentives for waste pickers. Without the presence of his predecessor, who left office on Friday (30) and traveled to the United States, Lula received the sash from Aline Sousa, 33, a waste picker. "As a citizen, a black woman, handing over the sash was a feeling that it was all worth the struggle, this fight during the last few years in defense of democracy, of people's rights", said the waste picker. She walked up the ramp of the Palacio do Planalto ( the Government's headquarters) alongside Lula and seven other guests: Indigenous Chief Raoni Metuktire, the young boy Francisco, 10, the metal worker Weslley Rodrigues, the professor Murilo de Quadros Jesus, the cook Jucimara Fausto dos Santos, the militant Flavio Pereira and Ivan Baron, a young man who had cerebral palsy caused by meningitis in childhood. In his inaugural speech, Lula made a strong defense of the fight against inequality and the role of the State in the country's economic development. The representative preached the recomposition of Budget funds, said that the government will resume stalled works, and spoke of new labor legislation. Speaking at a session in Congress, he mentioned public banks and other state-owned companies as actors in the process and specifically mentioned the BNDES (National Bank for Economic and Social Development) and companies that induce "growth and innovation, such as Petrobras". The speech, which included criticism of the spending cap and measures taken during the administration of Jair Bolsonaro (PL), points to an economic agenda aligned with the party's historic banner and the speech promoted during his electoral campaign. "In our governments, there has never been and never will be any splurge. We have always invested, and will invest again, in our most precious asset: the Brazilian people", he stated. Lula said it was inadmissible that the richest 5% of the country hold the same slice of income as the other 95%, that six Brazilian billionaires have wealth equivalent to the assets of the poorest 100 million in the country, and that a male or female worker who earns a monthly minimum wage takes 19 years to receive the equivalent of what a super rich person receives in a single month. The government intends to discuss a tax reform this year and has defended the reduction of taxes on consumption, which strongly affect (proportionally) the poorest population. The changes in taxation on income, and the consequent creation of the tax on profits and dividends, should be left for a second moment.