Brazilians go wild for Lula's inauguration.

(From FT Investor (Stories))

Antonio Francisco dos Santos walked for 27 days from Sao Paulo to Brasilia with a little handcart decorated with a Brazilian flag to join the inauguration of Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva as president on Wednesday.

The rise of a former metalworker to power in Latin America's largest country was celebrated with unprecedented fervour. More than a hundred thousand supporters flocked to the remote capital in the largest presidential inauguration celebration ever. Peasants, workers, students and families came by foot, bicycle, bus or airplane to witness the Workers' party (PT) take power 23 years after it emerged from the union protests that helped bring down a military dictatorship.

Francisco das Chagas cycled more than 2,000 kilometres to participate in the festivities. Relatives of the president travelled by bus for 40 hours from his birthplace in the north-eastern state of Pernambuco, repeating Mr Lula da Silva's 13-day epic journey in 1952 to escape rural poverty for a job as lathe turner in the booming industry of Sao Paulo.

"I wouldn't miss it for the world - we place all our hope in Lula," said Joao Ferreira Campos, whose family, like thousands of others who couldn't afford a hotel, is camping free of charge on the city's outskirts.

Mr Lula da Silva won more votes than any previous president in October's election and his campaign pledge to tackle Brazil's infamous social inequalities has created enormous expectations.

Yet even before taking office, the former union leader has already experienced serious hitches. He has failed to form a governing coalition with the centrist PMDB party and will lack a clear majority in congress to approve key structural reforms. He will face an enormous challenge in reconciling his market-friendly economic team and the need for austerity with popular expectations and more leftwing radicals in his cabinet.