Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro takes office, delivers inaugural speech

Brazil's far-right President Jair Bolsonaro has used his inaugural speech to promise to build a "society without discrimination or division".

The former army captain told Congress he wanted a "national pact" to free Brazil of corruption, crime, and economic mismanagement. In a swipe at the left, he vowed to free Brazil of "ideology".

He is seen as a deeply divisive figure whose racist, homophobic and misogynistic remarks have angered many. Bolsonaro, 63, won the presidential election by a wide margin against Fernando Haddad of the left-wing Workers' Party on 28 October.

He was propelled to victory by campaign promises to curb Brazil's rampant corruption and crime. US President Donald Trump commended him for his speech on Tuesday, saying the US was "with" him.

Among the foreign guests at the inauguration was US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, and Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.

"Brazil will return to being a country free of ideological constrictions," Bolsonaro told Congress in the capital, Brasilia.

"I will divide power in a progressive, conscientious and responsible way.”

His administration, he said, was "committed to those Brazilians who want good schools to prepare their kids for the job market and not for political militancy".

Pledging support for the military and police, he said: "The national motto is order and progress. No society can develop without respecting these."

On the economy, he promised to "create a new virtuous cycle to open markets" and "carry out important structural reforms" to tackle the public deficit.

In an apparent reference to gun control, he said: "Good citizens deserve the means to defend themselves." On Saturday, he tweeted that he would issue a decree to allow citizens who did not have a criminal record to own guns.

After being sworn in in front of Congress, Bolsonaro went on to the Planalto Palace where the outgoing President, Michel Temer, handed over the presidential sash.

Speaking afterwards, he said Brazil would "start to free itself of socialism" and "political correctness".

Despite portraying himself as a political outsider during his campaign, Bolsonaro served seven terms in Brazil's lower house of Congress, the Chamber of Deputies, before being elected president.

He has been a member of several political parties but is currently in the Social Liberal Party (PSL), which has grown from having a tiny presence in Congress to become the party with the second largest number of deputies in the lower house.

Before becoming a politician, Bolsonaro served in Brazil's military, where he was a paratrooper and rose to the rank of captain.