Sociologist Rosangela da Silva, popularly known as “Janja”, does not miss an act of Lula da Silva, while Michelle Bolsonaro often leads evangelical cults together with President Jair Bolsonaro.
Both are wives of the best favorites for the presidency of Brazil and have speculated a leading role in the election campaign.
In 2018, when the leader of the Brazilian far-right was running for the presidency for the first time, Michelle Bolsonaro remained in a background. His participation was then limited to some statements in defense of the rights of the deaf.
Regarded by those close to her as a discreet and reserved woman, her notoriety increased on the same day Bolsonaro assumed power, January 1, 2019. That day, Michelle gave a speech in sign language before the president himself, an unprecedented gesture in the recent history of the country.
The presence of the first lady intensified as the legislature advanced and became central to the 2022 campaign.
But his leading role also became a double-edged sword.
Opponents have criticized his poses on social media with elegant mourning dresses during Queen Elizabeth’s funeral and have now nicknamed him “Micheque”, recalling a scandal that broke out in 2020 over checks received by the first lady, which were handed over by a councilor. to the Bolsonaro family, who was in prison for a corruption case.
A woman “of God”
Defined by the president as a “woman of God” and of family, Michelle Bolsonaro is used to leading massive acts with evangelicalsone of the main bases of support for the president and to whom he promised “Jesus Christ in government”.
The 40-year-old first lady, with whom Bolsonaro has a daughter in common, has also focused her efforts on attracting the female vote, one of the far-right leader’s workhorses, which bears a history of sexist and misogynistic claims. .
The president’s wife addressed women both in the electoral propaganda broadcast on television and in the acts, where she came to to affirm that “the woman is her husband’s helper”.
The statement generated criticism among feminist groups as well was refuted by Janjathe wife of former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, favored to win this Sunday’s elections.
“I’m not going to help, I’m not going to be a help. I’ll be by your side, by your side, fighting,” Janja pointed out, in a veiled response to the first lady.
A relationship born in prison
A sociologist by training and a member of the Workers’ Party (PT) since the 1980s, Janja, 55, began her relationship with Lula when the the former president was still in prison at the Federal Police Headquarters of Curitiba for a conviction for corruption, which was later canceled.
And the first thing Lula did when she left prison in November 2019 was introduce his girlfriend to militancy: “I have achieved the feat of being a prisoner, having a girlfriend, being in love and agreeing to marry me.”
They both got married last May, on the eve of the elections. Since then, Janja has gained more and more space in the former president’s campaign.
The sociologist is one of the faces more visible than Lula’s actionswhere he often takes the microphone and sings in front of the militants the song “Lula lá”, a classic from 1989 and which he reissued together with artists as a wedding gift for the progressive leader.
On stage, Janja always keeps an eye on her husband: putting on a cap when the sun is shining, offering him water or adjusting his shirt collar while the former president speaks.
Purposeful and spontaneous, she is used to attending PT leadership meetings and has hired one Lula’s articulation with the artists e influencerand he came to organize mass events like the one that took place in San Pablo on Monday.
“I owe the success (of this act) to Janja. She insisted on organizing it and I am harvesting what was planted,” Lula said, minutes before attending the meeting with singers, actors, intellectuals and digital influencers.
Janja has already announced that if Lula wins the election, as all polls predict, she will give a new meaning to the concept of first lady.
“I have a little secret: we will try to give a new meaning to that concept of first lady, then we will talk about it,” he told his more than 200,000 followers on Instagram.
Source: EFE
Source: Clarin
