Far-right populist invited lawmakers to help country free itself from ‘ideological submission’ in speech

• Jair Bolsonaro’s inauguration: the day progressive Brazil has dreaded

Jair Bolsonaro has been sworn in as the 42nd president of Brazil, to the delight of passionate supporters, many of whom had travelled to its modernist capital for the event, convinced the far-right populist can rescue their troubled country from virulent corruption, rising violent crime and economic doldrums.

The former army captain waved from an open-topped Rolls Royce as he was driven to a ceremony at the city’s futuristic, Oscar Niemeyer-designed cathedral before he and his vice-president, retired army general Hamilton Mourão, were sworn in at Congress.

Brazil’s new president will feel emboldened to roll back rainforest protections and legitimise police’s use of deadly force

It was a softball question at a campaign trail press conference: what would Jair Bolsonaro do on his first day as president?

Brazil’s preeminent provocateur wrestled it straight into a Trumpian whirlpool of bluster and barminess.