(Brasília) Just sworn in, the new left-wing president of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, signed decrees to limit the use of weapons and strengthen the protection of the Amazon, taking the opposite view of the government of his predecessor in extreme right, Jair Bolsonaro.
Within 24 hours of his inauguration ceremony in the Brazilian capital on Sunday, the 77-year-old left-wing icon began to deliver on his key campaign promises.
Weapons
Through a decree published Monday in the official journal, Lula suspended for two months new registrations of weapons and ammunition for hunters, collectors and sport shooters (grouped under the acronym CAC).
This category saw its arsenal triple during Bolsonaro’s four years in office, reaching one million registered weapons.
Lula limited the possibilities of purchasing weapons and ammunition for certain authorized uses and suspended the issuance of new licenses for CACs and new registrations for shooting clubs and schools.
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva also created a working group to propose new regulations for the Disarmament Statute, in force since 2003 and his first government at the time, which aims to disarm civilians.
“The decree on arms control seeks to end the irresponsible period of ‘everything is permitted’, incompatible with the Constitution”, assured on Twitter Flavio Dino, Minister of Justice and Public Security of Lula.
Amazon
The new head of state also signed a series of decrees aimed at strengthening the protection of the Amazon, whose average annual deforestation has increased by 75% compared to the previous decade.
Lula notably set up a “permanent inter-ministerial commission for the prevention and control of deforestation”, while deciding to reactivate the Fund for the Amazon, created in 2008 to collect donations intended for investments in the forest with a view to its preservation.
The Amazon Fund had been frozen since 2019 due to differences over the destination of the funds between Norway and Germany, the main donors, and the Bolsonaro government. These two countries have expressed their intention to top it up again.
Lula also revoked a decree allowing mining in indigenous areas and environmentally protected areas.
Bolsa Familia
On Sunday, in the middle of the investiture ceremony, Lula signed a decree aimed at extending the popular “Bolsa Familia” program, which grants 600 reais (about 150 Canadian dollars) per month to the poorest families.
It is a campaign promise made after a painstaking negotiation with Parliament in December so that the program can escape the cap on public spending.
Lula also signed an increase in the minimum wage from 1,212 to 1,320 reais (about 335 Canadian dollars), a decision which had not yet been published in the official journal on Monday.
Some 125 million Brazilians out of the country’s 215 million suffer from food insecurity, and 30 million from hunger.
Privatizations
Lula halted the process launched under Bolsonaro to privatize eight public companies, including oil company Petrobras and the Brazilian Post. He warned during the campaign that he did not want any privatization of public groups.
Privacy and garbage collectors
The Brazilian president has ordered a review, within 30 days, of the many decisions taken by his predecessor Jair Bolsonaro to impose confidentiality on administration information and documents.
Jair Bolsonaro has repeatedly decreed the confidentiality of public documents for 100 years in order to prohibit access to them – for example, those relating to his vaccinations or his visits to former first lady Michelle Bolsonaro.
Lula finally ordered the general secretariat of the presidency to work on the creation of a new program called “Pro-Catador” which will promote and improve the working conditions of garbage collectors.