O Workers’ Party (PT) published on Monday (8) a open letter aimed at evangelical voters. The document mixes biblical quotes com government proposals e defends the re-election of President Lula (PT) in 2026.
The document was signed by the IV National Meeting of Evangelicals of the Workers’ Party, which took place in Brasília.
On paper rejects the idea that Brazilian evangelicals as a single political bloc and states that the meeting does not intend to speak on behalf of all denominations. Furthermore, he criticizes the “attempt to transform religion into an instrument of political manipulation”.
The letter is structured around biblical verses that function as a frame for each thematic block. The document opens with a passage from Isaiah whose text deals with freeing the oppressed and sharing food with the hungry, and uses James, Matthew, Ephesians and Peter throughout the text – always anchoring political positions in New Testament references.
Among the proposals, the document defends the expansion of social programs already existing programs, such as Bolsa Família, Minha Casa Minha Vida and Farmácia Popular, and supports ongoing measures under the Lula government, such as Income Tax exemption for those who earn up to R$5 thousand and the end of scale 6×1.
The letter also talks about the strengthening family farming and from Agrarian Reform, first job policies for youth, comprehensive care for women’s health e guaranteeing access for the black population to the justice system.
The text also deals with the sovereignty and from forest protectionthe waters and from biodiversity – and uses the expression “Common Home”, associated with Pope Francis.
Conflict between Janja and Malafaia
This Monday’s meeting took place amidst a conflict between first lady Rosângela Silva, Janja, and pastor Silas Malafaia. He criticized the meetings she has been holding with evangelical women, calling her interlocutors “insignificant”. Janja reversed the adjective against him and stated that he did not recognize him as a pastor.
The PT has difficulty attracting evangelical votes and the letter is a nod towards this electorate. According to the 2022 IBGE Census, evangelicals represented 26.9% of the Brazilian population, and 55.4% of this total were women. Research indicates big disadvantage of Lula in this spectrum.
Furthermore, at the beginning of the year, the president found himself involved in a crisis with part of the evangelical community due to a section of the samba school parade that paid homage to him and that satirized religious groups.
Janja herself was self-critical during the meeting, recognizing that the PT has isolated itself from the churches over the years.
In the last week, in São Paulo. THE event was attended by Flávio Bolsonaro (PL), PT’s main opponent in these elections, but not Lula’s. THE . He was represented by the AGU minister, Jorge Messias.
