A decree signed in August by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) and clarified this Sunday by the federal government officially expanded the structure available to First Lady Rosângela da Silva, known as Janja. The measure establishes that the Personal Office of the Presidency of the Republic must also provide support to the spouse of the head of the Executive “in the exercise of activities of public interest”.
The text, published with the signatures of Lula, the Minister of the Civil House, Rui Costa (PT), and the Minister of Management and Innovation, Esther Dweck, changes a 2023 rule that dealt with the composition and functions of the cabinet. The change formalizes the first lady’s access to the services of the body responsible for the diary, correspondence, ceremonies, collection, preservation and maintenance of the president’s official residences.
The structure is commanded by political scientist Marco Aurélio Santana Ribeiro, known as Marcola, and has 189 commission positions and trust functions, distributed among units such as order assistance, agenda office, ceremonial and historical documentation department.
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HAS Folha de S.Paulothe Presidency’s Communication Secretariat stated this Sunday (12) that the decree “consolidated” the rule published in April by the Attorney General’s Office (AGU), which had defined the legal guidelines for the first lady’s actions. According to Secom, the rules “contribute to transparency in the exercise of Janja’s activities.”
The AGU’s guidance allows the president’s spouse to represent the government in cultural and social events, as long as it is not official and without remuneration. Action must be voluntary and accompanied by accountability.
Janja had already been publicly defending the creation of his own cabinet since 2023. In interviews with The Globe e to CNN Brazilshe argued that first ladies from other countries have a similar structure and attributed resistance to the idea to “misogyny and machismo”.
