Michelle Bolsonaro and Janja da Silva
That Sociologist Janja Don’t miss any rally Lula da Silvawhile Michelle often leads evangelical services alongside the President Jair Bolsonaro. Both are Wives of the top contenders for the presidency of Brazil and have taken a leading role in the election campaign.
In 2018, when the leader of the Brazilian right ran for the presidency for the first time, Michelle Bolsonaro stayed in the background. His participation was then limited to a few statements in defense of the Deaf Rights.
Regarded as a by his relatives discreet and reserved womanhis notoriety rose on the same day that Bolsonaro took power, on January 1, 2019. On that day, Michelle gave a speech in sign language in front of the President himself, a gesture unprecedented in the country’s recent history.
Michelle Bolsonaro during man’s inauguration as President of Brazil (AFP)
The First Lady’s presence intensified over the course of the legislature and became central in the 2022 election campaign.
But its leading role has also become one double-edged sword.
Opponents have slammed her for posing in elegant mourning dresses on social media during Queen Elizabeth’s funeral, and now they’ve dubbed her “Micheque”remembers a Scandal that broke out in 2020 over some checks he received the First Lady, handed over by an adviser to the Bolsonaro family, who were in prison on a corruption case.
Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro and his wife Michelle Bolsonaro pay their respects in front of the flag-draped coffin of Queen Elizabeth II which lies on the catafalque at Westminster Hall on September 18, 2022 in London, England. Chip Somodevilla/Pool via Portal/File
A WOMAN “OF GOD”
Defined by the President as the “Woman of God” and family, Michelle Bolsonaro is used to leading massive campaigns with evangelicalsone of the most important bases of the president, to whom he promised “Jesus Christ in government”.
The 40-year-old First Lady, with whom Bolsonaro has a daughter, has also concentrated her efforts attract the female voiceone of the workhorses of the far right leader wearing one History of sexist and misogynist statements.
The President’s wife has addressed women both in election propaganda on television and at rallies, where she has even said so “Woman is man’s helper”.
Brazil’s First Lady Michelle Bolsonaro during a military parade to celebrate Brazil’s bicentenary of independence in Brasilia, Brazil September 7, 2022. Portal/Adriano Machado/File
The statement drew criticism from feminist groups and was refuted by Rosangela da Silvaknown as “Janja”, the wife of former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, favorite to win this Sunday’s election.
“I will not help, I will not be an assistant. I will be by your side, fighting with you,” Janja said in a veiled reply to the First Lady.
A RELATIONSHIP BORN IN PRISON
Sociologist by training u member of the Labor Party (PT) since the 1980s, Janja55 years old, her romance with Lula began while the former president was still in prison at the Federal Police Headquarters in Curitiba for a corruption conviction that was later overturned.
And the first thing Lula did when he was released from prison in November 2019 was to introduce militancy to his girlfriend: “I managed the feat of having a girlfriend in prison, being in love and that she agreed, to marry me.”
Both married last May, on the eve of the elections. Since then, Janja gained more and more space in the former president’s election campaign.
Former Brazilian President and current presidential candidate Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva talks to his wife Rosangela da Silva ‘Janja’ during a meeting on sustainable development with indigenous leaders and Brazilian politicians in Manaus, Brazil August 31, 2022. Portal/Bruno Kelly/ File , archive
The sociologist is one of the most visible faces of Lula’s performanceswhere he frequently picks up the microphone and sings the song “lula la”a 1989 classic he revisited with artists as a wedding gift for the progressive leader.
Janja always keeps an eye on her husband on stage: Puts a hat on him when the sun is beating down, offers him water or repairs his shirt lapel while the former president speaks.
Accustomed to attending PT leadership meetings proactively and spontaneously, she has sourced and organized Lula’s articulation with artists and digital influencers massive acts like on Monday in Sao Paulo.
“I owe my success to Janja (this law). She insisted on organizing this and I pick up what’s planted,” Lula said the day before, minutes before attending the gathering of singers, actors, intellectuals and digital influencers.
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva Rosangela da Silva during the Lula hugs Contagem event in Contagem, Minas Gerais state, Brazil, May 10, 2022. Photo by Douglas Magno / AFP/File
Janja has already announced that if Lula wins the elections, he will give one new meaning to the concept of First Lady.
“I have a little secret: we’re going to try to give this concept of the first lady a new meaning, we’ll talk about that later,” he told his more than 200,000 followers on Instagram.
(With information from EFE)
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The United States hopes Brazil will show it has “very strong democratic institutions” ahead of Sunday’s elections. Brazil gives Lula da Silva 48 percent of voting intent