Bolsonaro and Lula, rivals beyond politics

Stuck, tense and exhausting in its clichés and reiterations, the most important thing about the last debate between Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Jair Bolsonaro happened once it was over.

The incisive

, an interviewer for TV Globo, asked Bolsonaro if he would respect the result if he lost on Sunday.

And the candidate for re-election, for the first time in the campaign, gave a reasonable answer on the subject: "There is no doubt, the one with the most votes wins, that is democracy."

At that time on Saturday morning, Lula was already leaving the set of Rede Globo in Rio de Janeiro.

She was leaving with Janja, wife and campaign weapon.

"I am happy thanks to Janjinha, she is the source of water from which I drink," said the former Brazilian president a month ago, who at 77 years of age

.

"Janja gave me back the joy for life, the will to do things. I rediscovered a word called love, only those who love know what that is."

But beyond the love that Lula feels for Rosángela (Janja) da Silva, a 56-year-old sociologist, those public demonstrations by the leftist leader in the run-up to the first round were neither innocent nor casual: Janja adds votes to a Lula who is seeking waste sensitivity before a Bolsonaro

.

Although the current president has an equally powerful card, Michelle, 40, 27 years younger than the hard-right candidate.

As much as they hate each other, Lula and Bolsonaro agree on one thing:

, although the leader of the Workers' Party is twice a widower, while the Liberal Party candidate is twice divorced.

Like Bolsonaro and Lula,

.

The president's wife is a sign language interpreter, while the former president's is a sociologist.

Michelle, who has gained prominence in recent times, went so far as to say that "the woman is the husband's helper", a phrase that Janja did not let go.

"I'm not going to help, I'm not going to be an assistant. I'm going to be by your side, together with you, fighting," the sociologist told Lula, whom she has known for years and with whom she fell in love when the former president was in office. prison for

.

Janja and Michelle are so important in the campaign, that

, a very powerful weapon in Brazilian politics, has been cruel to them.

Female role in politics

"Women are gaining more prominence in politics, and the campaigns give more prominence to the companions to try to point out the concern of the candidates for the feminine universe", highlighted

.

They are looking for "less masculinized campaigns".

Janja moves comfortably in front of the cameras.

At the start of the campaign, she gave Lula a "wedding present": the catchy jingle from the 1989 campaign -it is the former president's sixth campaign-, reverted and adapted to current tastes.

And Michelle, who gave a speech in sign language on the day of Bolsonaro's inauguration, is a

, which is very broad in Brazil.

There it is, perhaps, the great divergence between Janja and Lula.

The Workers' Party (PT) candidate had to compromise on a number of issues with evangelical churches, and he emphatically responded with

, when Bolsonaro threw that in his face.

Janja stayed away from the staging of the agreement between Lula and the evangelicals, whose leaders mostly support the current president.

The sociologist Janja is not unaware that

.

More than three decades ago,

had the audacity to declare himself an atheist in an interview when he was seeking mayor of Sao Paulo.

He lost.

Years later he won the presidency and knew how to respond when the religious issue crossed his path.

Other times: in today's Brazil, Lula and Bolsonaro are counting on settling in the Planalto with earthly votes and some help from beyond.

extreme polarization

Polarized to the extreme, many Brazilians believe that

, while many Bolsonarists fear that, if Lula wins, the country will convert to "communism", just like Cuba, Venezuela, Colombia, Chile and Argentina, countries that they equate and place in an imaginary axis of left-wing dictatorial evil.

There are other Brazilians who bring a somewhat different vision.

Marcio is 26 years old, lives in São Paulo, studies medicine and claims to be very, very tired.

"I can't take it anymore. This campaign was too long, I don't want to listen to them anymore. Let what has to happen happen," he tells EL MUNDO

the medical future, which reflects the exhaustion of

.

Dilma Rousseff's triumph to be re-elected in 2014 was followed by the

that removed her in 2016, Bolsonaro's arrival in power in 2018 and Lula's entry and exit from prison between 2018 and 2019. So many extraordinary and abnormal events contributed to stimulate divisions and mistrust among Brazilians.

And many signs indicate that, whoever wins, that trend will continue.

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