Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro appears to have left the official residence of the head of state in Brasília in the worst possible state: New First Lady Rosangela “Ganga” da Silva led reporters from TV Globo through the Alvorada Palace yesterday. To check its condition after exiting the previous occupant.
Parts of the famous building “were demolished,” the wife of new president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said during the tour, noting worn-out carpeting, broken floors, broken windows and water damage to the roof. The huge banquet hall filmed by the TV crew was completely empty, with all the furnishings apparently removed.
An unknown number of pieces of furniture and artwork from the presidential residence are missing, Rosangela da Silva described. Other tapestries were damaged, and a 19th-century painting lay on the floor. In contrast, the historic library was littered with electronic equipment, from which Bolsonaro delivered weekly video addresses during his tenure, which ended at the turn of the year.
Da Silva announced that she and her husband would first restore the presidential palace and repair the damage. Only after a complete inventory did they want to move into the dwelling. The plan is to place pieces of furniture and works of art on the national heritage list “so that it will never happen again that the president takes away historical objects belonging to the Brazilian state.”
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