Brazil's outspoken first lady won't be silenced

Independent

15 hours ago

Brazil's first lady, Rosângela da Silva, sparked an unexpected diplomatic incident at a high-profile dinner in Beijing, directly addressing Chinese President Xi Jinping about the perceived political bias of TikTok. The unscheduled intervention, which saw Ms da Silva claim the social media platform's algorithm favoured right-wingers and posed a challenge for leftists, was reportedly met with a response from Mr Xi before being leaked to Brazilian media by the time dessert was served.
The dinner, held in early May, was intended to celebrate a significant diplomatic victory for President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who was accompanied by businessmen reportedly securing billions of dollars in investments. The event was a moment for the veteran leader to renew his international prestige alongside his Chinese counterpart.
However, the first lady, widely known as Janja, raised her hand to speak despite no one else being expected to do so. Her comments on TikTok's alleged political leanings have since drawn scrutiny.
The incident comes as President Lula's government grapples with declining popularity, a factor that has dented his standing as a frontrunner for re-election next year. Some analysts, including members of his own administration, attribute this downturn partly to his wife's perceived overstepping of what was traditionally a ceremonial role.
Janja, a 58-year-old sociologist, has drawn criticism for insulting tech billionaire Elon Musk, mocking the suicide of a pro-Jair Bolsonaro supporter and advising the president on how to use the military during the Jan. 8, 2023 riots in the capital, Brasilia. Still, she insists she will speak out whenever it serves the public interest.
A Datafolha poll released June 12 found that 36% of Brazilians think the first lady's actions hurt the government, while 14% say they are helpful. It was the pollster's first measure of the first lady's approval.
The same poll showed Lula with a 40% job disapproval rating, an 8 percentage point increase from October 2024.
Brazil's presidency said in a statement to The Associated Press on June 20 that da Silva adheres to the solicitor-general's office guidelines, adding that she "acts as a citizen, combining her public visibility with the experience she has built throughout her professional career in support of relevant social issues and matters of public interest."
Under guidelines published by the solicitor-general's office, the president's spouse primarily fulfills "a symbolically representative role on behalf of the president in a social, cultural, ceremonial, political or diplomatic nature." For many of her critics, this does not grant her the authority to speak as a government representative.
Brazilian media have reported that government ministers, lawmakers and staunch leftist campaigners are privately raising concerns about the first lady being a hindrance more than an asset. These worries have skyrocketed since the incident in China — even as Lula himself has praised his wife for speaking out.
"It looks like Brazil is governed by a couple," said Beatriz Rey, a political science postdoctoral and research fellow at the University of Lisbon. "When (the first lady) says there won't be any protocols to silence her, she disrespects our democratic institutions for she has no elected office, no government position. It is not about being a woman or a feminist. It is undue interference."
Lula's first wife, Maria de Lourdes, died in 1971. His second, Marisa Let�cia, died in 2017. Lula, 79, and Janja said they met in 2017 and started seeing each other frequently during the leftist leader's 580 days in jail in the city of Curitiba between 2018 and 2019. They married in 2022.
Many supporters of Lula's Workers' Party partly attribute the criticism against the first lady to misinformation and disinformation. In May, the party launched the "I am with Janja" social media campaign in her defense. But the week-long effort garnered less than 100,000 views and only a few hundred comments.
"Janja is an asset because she rejuvenates Lula, everyone in the government understands that, even her critics," a Brazilian government source told the AP. "No one wants to alienate her. But many important people in Brasilia, friends and allies of Lula, do understand that by overstepping she brings some of her rejection to the president."
The source, who spoke under condition of anonymity for lack of authorization to speak about the matter publicly, often travels with the president and the first lady.
Adriana Negreiros, a journalist who profiled the first lady for a 2024 podcast titled "Janja," said that allies of the president who criticize her do it with extreme caution.
"(Janja) dances, sings, speaks out, appears at official events and meetings with heads of state. She insists on being present and vocal," Negreiros said. "There's a lot of sexism and misogyny directed at her, no doubt. But not all criticism is sexist."
'She will say what she wants'
Da Silva said she doesn't go to dinners "just to accompany" her husband.
"I have common sense. I consider myself an intelligent person. So I know very well what my limits are. I'm fully aware of that," she told a podcast of daily Folha de S. Paulo.
Da Silva did, however, express remorse during the same podcast for the expletive she used against Musk in 2024, once a close ally of U.S. President Donald Trump.
Many of Lula's adversaries say they want the first lady to remain in the spotlight.
"The more she speaks, the more she holds a microphone, the more she helps the right wing," said Nikolas Ferreira, one of Brazil's most popular right-wing lawmakers.
Ferreira, a prominent social media figure, claims the role of regulating social media is a matter for Brazil's Congress, not for the first lady to debate with foreign leaders like Xi.
Da Silva is also expected to play as a keen hostess at the BRICS summit in Rio on July 6-7, a role her husband is almost certain not to oppose.
"She will be wherever she wants," Lula told journalists in March following criticism for sending the first lady as his representative to a nutrition summit in Paris that month.
"She will say what she wants and go wherever she wants."