Headlines December 30, 2022 from Democracy Now!

Brazil’s President-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva finalized his Cabinet appointments Thursday ahead of his January 1 inauguration. Amazon rainforest defender and Goldman Prize winner Marina Silva was chosen as Brazil’s environmental minister. Silva held the post in Lula’s previous two terms in office, during which Amazon deforestation slowed significantly. Indigenous land and water defender Sônia Guajajara was named Brazil’s first-ever minister for Indigenous peoples. Lula also nominated Black activist, journalist and educator Anielle Franco as Brazil’s new minister of racial equality. She’s the sister of Marielle Franco, who was a human rights and racial justice activist and member of Rio de Janeiro’s City Council, before she was assassinated in 2018.

Ahead of Lula’s swearing-in Sunday, the Brazilian Supreme Court temporarily banned registered gun owners from carrying their firearms in the capital Brasília until after the inauguration ceremony. The move comes amid rising concerns of violence from the far right and supporters of defeated President Jair Bolsonaro. Brazilian police on Thursday arrested at least four people and carried out nationwide raids as they investigated an alleged coup attempt led by backers of Bolsonaro who’ve refused to accept Lula’s victory. Bolsonaro has yet to concede.

Brazil has begun three days of mourning over the death of Brazilian soccer legend Pelé, known as the king of football. Pelé died Thursday in São Paulo due to complications from colon cancer and COVID-19. He was 82 years old. Born Edson Arantes do Nascimento, Pelé is the only soccer player to have won three World Cup tournaments, the first in 1958 when Pelé rose to international fame at the age of 17. Brazil declared him a national treasure. Pelé also won 10 league titles with his club team, Santos, and is credited with popularizing soccer in the United States when he played for the New York Cosmos in the 1970s. Pelé was born in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais in 1940. Brazil’s incoming President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said on Twitter, “Few Brazilians took the name of our country as far as he did.” We’ll have more on Pelé’s life and legacy after headlines.

Here in New York, the first legal recreational cannabis dispensary opened its doors to the public on Thursday at 4:20 p.m. The Housing Works Cannabis Company dispensary in Manhattan is run by a nonprofit serving people living with HIV/AIDS, as well as unhoused and formerly incarcerated people. Chris Alexander, the executive director of New York State’s newly formed Office of Cannabis Management, was the dispensary’s first-ever customer.

Chris Alexander: “One of the key priorities was always, you know, addressing the criminal consequences that exist. It stemmed from marijuana prohibition and its disproportionate enforcement, but also access. Right? And access to a plant that is medicine for so many, particularly in the HIV and AIDS community, as well.”