Two hundred handpicked guests, a location kept secret until the last moment, guests asked to leave their mobile phones at the entrance to the luxurious reception hall… The wedding, Wednesday evening May 18, in São Paulo, of former Brazilian President Lula, 76, with Rosangela da Silva, nicknamed “Janja”, twenty-one years his junior, was shrouded in mystery until the end.
A little before the ceremony, Lula’s Instagram account nevertheless posted a photo of the lucky woman, a sociologist by training, wearing her wedding dress, a work finely embroidered with stars, in homage to the Workers’ Party (PT) of which she has been an activist since 1983, and cacti, symbols of northeastern Brazil, Lula’s region of origin. A few hours later, a new snapshot showed the latter, in a sapphire blue suit, passing the ring on his finger to the one who could therefore become the first lady of Brazil, at the end of the presidential election to be held in October.
The desire for discretion that surrounded the union of Lula and Janja contrasts with the many declarations of love and marks of affection which the two spouses delivered during their public appearances. The first dates back to November 2019, when the former president was released, after 580 days of imprisonment linked to his conviction for corruption within the framework of the “Lava Jato” anti-corruption investigation. Then widowed for two and a half years, Lula had lost Marisa Leticia Rocco, the great love of his life and the mother of his four children, of a stroke, in February 2017.
Traditional values
In his speech to the crowd, he then announced that he wanted to marry the one who had visited him regularly since the beginning of his detention, in April 2018, and who had animated the nights of vigil opposite the building of the federal police of Curitiba, where he was being held. A love that he has never ceased to declaim since his speeches as a candidate – “You must know that a 76-year-old man in love can only do good for this country” –alongside an omnipresent Janja on the stands and encouraging Lula’s openness to themes such as the environment and feminism.
Because Lula, even on the eve of his wedding, remains a politician. The proof, this video of him published Tuesday on his Twitter account: “I’m with Janja… no. I marry her and assume my responsibilities, as I want to assume my responsibilities towards Brazil. »
“Faced with polls of less favorable voting intentions in recent weeks, Lula is chasing the votes of the moderate electorate who see in him a more radical left-wing man than in 2002, says Eduardo Mello, political researcher at the Getulio Vargas Foundation. So he seeks, with this marriage, to give himself an image of a responsible future president. » Probably also that of a left-wing man with traditional values, married by a bishop, Mgr Angélico Sândalo Bernardino, and capable of “arguing with Jair Bolsonaro for the rhetoric of the traditional family”points out Mayra Goulart, professor of political science at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro.
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