Book shows Janja’s performance on 8/1 and friction with the PT – 05/05/2023 – Politics

First lady Rosângela da Silva, known as Janja, disagreed with the Minister of Defense, José Múcio, and was against the possibility of the Army acting via GLO (Guarantee of Law and Order) to contain the coup leaders who destroyed the headquarters of the three Powers in Brasília, on the 8th of January.

Janja was next to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) when the PT spoke on the phone and heard the suggestion from the minister. The first lady reacted: “GLO no, GLO is a coup, it’s a coup”. Lula decided to decree intervention in the security of the Federal District.

The episode is narrated in the book “Janja – The Militant Who Became First Lady”, by Ciça Guedes and Murilo Fiuza de Melo, authors of “Todas As Mulheres dos Presidentes”, which tells the story of 34 Brazilian first ladies. The work will be released on the 11th.

Divided into nine chapters, the book outlines Janja’s profile, from her youth militancy period (she joined the PT at age 17) to the first months of Lula’s third term. In addition to interviews and research by the authors, the book references press reports and publications by the first lady on social media.

In the preface, the authors state that it is not a complete biography of the sociologist, but that the proposal is “to reveal who Janja is” beyond the image “that the PT built for her”. They cite declined interview requests and “strict access control” to the first lady and those close to her.

The book mentions the moment when the sociologist met Lula in person. It was between February and March 1994, in an edition of the Citizenship Caravans in Southern Brazil. At the time, Janja was linked to the PT directory in Ponta Grossa, Paraná, and lived in the city with historian Marco Aurélio Monteiro Pereira, with whom she had a relationship, without formally marrying, for more than a decade.

Janja and Lula also met a few times during the period in which the sociologist worked at Itaipu. The authors record a lecture by the PT supporter that she organized for the class of the Higher Studies in Politics and Strategy Course, at the ESG (Escola Superior de Guerra), of which she was a member —she had obtained a one-year paid leave from the hydroelectric plant to participate in the course in Rio de Janeiro.

The lecture took place on July 29, 2011, seven months after the PT left the Presidency, and would have displeased the military.

When she finished the course at ESG, Janja got her assignment to work at Eletrobras headquarters, in Rio, where she stayed until 2016. Paulista Electric Energy Transmission).

The authors estimate that Janja would have received around BRL 130,000 from CGTEE to participate in 54 meetings in four and a half years. CTEEP does not report individual amounts paid to directors.

According to the book, Lula and Janja’s romantic relationship began after a soccer game organized by the MST (Movement of Landless Rural Workers), in São Paulo, in December 2017. In March 2018, Janja accompanied Lula as his girlfriend on a caravan through the south of the country —at the request of the PT member, the “team was prohibited from mentioning the subject”.

Lula was arrested in April of that year. According to the authors, Janja was at the Metallurgist Union building, in São Bernardo, on the day he turned himself in to the Federal Police to say goodbye to his boyfriend.

Janja was present at the vigil set up in front of the headquarters of the PF Superintendence in Curitiba and kept a low profile. The courtship became public in May 2019, when Janja had already visited the petista in jail five times – the first would have taken place on April 18.

Meetings with relatives took place on Thursdays and lasted, on average, one hour. Part of the family’s time was given to the girlfriend (the couple was not entitled to intimate visits).

Lula was released in November 2019. A few days later, Janja joined Itaipu’s Voluntary Resignation Program. In the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic, the sociologist appeared only twice in front of the cameras. She worked behind the scenes, had control of Lula’s agenda and gave her opinion on interview requests.

The book says that the “discreet attitude” was a PT request. Journalist Nicole Briones, who was responsible for the PT’s social media, “feared that Janja’s presence would be used by Bolsonaristas”.

The work points out frictions between the first lady and the party due to her exposure – and says that in December 2020 Janja “began to show signs that she would not follow that script for long”.

That month, he accompanied Lula on a trip to Cuba, where he would participate in the recording of a documentary — Brazil was experiencing the second wave of the pandemic. “Disclosure of the trip was everything the PT didn’t want. Janja, however, published five posts.”

In another passage, the book says that “Janja did not like” not having appeared in records of Lula’s meeting with the president of France, Emmanuel Macron, at the end of 2021, “by decision of the PT’s advisory”.

Nicole Briones was later fired “after losing her arm wrestling match with Janja”. “From then on, the sociologist only increased her presence in real-life and digital events.”

The first lady’s active participation in the campaign caused strangeness among party leaders, “jealous of controlling Lula’s surroundings”.

The book narrates a visit by Lula to a family farming fair in Natal. In it, the PT supporter was “grabbed by several militants”, which made Janja get irritated and ask that the visit be interrupted, “leaving supporters upset”. “Since the incident, access to Lula has become more controlled.”

The authors, in turn, praise the sociologist’s participation in the electoral process, stating that she “brought youthfulness to the campaign” and that she was responsible for bringing the PT closer to segments of society that were far from the party.

The work also shows Janja’s role in the transition (in the organization of the inauguration and her influence in setting up Lula’s ministry) and her active participation in the day-to-day of politics in the first months of the government —attending meetings, taking on tasks and endorsing agendas .

wanted by Sheetthe press office for the first lady said that the book “did not have the support or participation of Janja, nor of her close family or friends”.

“Judging by the previously published excerpts, it is possible to infer that there are several passages that can be questioned due to inaccuracies in the facts and exaggerations in the interpretations, in addition to the use of public and easily verifiable facts in conclusions”, says the note.

The advisory also said that, when contacted by the authors, Janja registered “that she did not think it was appropriate to be the subject of a profile as first lady without even having begun President Lula’s third term.”

“The hasty publication of the profile tends to leave aside the proper reflection on his professional and political activities alongside the president.”