Two days after vetoing a bill that would reduce penalties for January 8 golpists, President Lula released a video preaching unity between opposing political currents. Recorded during a vacation in Restinga da Marambaia, Rio de Janeiro, the material was shared by First Lady Janja and uses a sea waves metaphor to combat ideological prejudices.
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) appeared in a video released by First Lady Janja da Silva on Saturday (January 10, 2026), two days after fully vetoing the bill proposing dosimetry to reduce sentences for those convicted in the January 8, 2023, coup attempts, including former President Jair Bolsonaro.
The footage was recorded during the couple's vacation in Restinga da Marambaia, an environmental preservation area in the Navy's military base, located between Mangaratiba, Itaguaí, and Rio de Janeiro. Lula and Janja spent New Year's Eve there, arriving on December 26, 2025, and staying for about ten days. In the video, Lula appears in swim trunks and a Presidential Republic cap, walking on the beach with drone-captured scenes.
Using the landscape as a metaphor, Lula compared crossing waves in opposite directions to political currents. "What is extraordinary here is that you will notice waves coming from there to here, and waves coming from there to here. This is an extraordinary demonstration, even to end prejudice between left and right," the president said. He added: "Here, the wave coming from the right joins the one coming from the left and builds the sea." Lula emphasized that nature does "what we imagine is impossible to be done," inspiring partisan reconciliation.
The initiative appears to target right-wing votes, echoing the 'broad front' strategy used in the 2022 election, when Lula defeated Bolsonaro by attracting the center. Janja commented in the post that the couple recharged their energies and returns with "disposition, dialogue, and Brazil in the heart."
The video aims to promote dialogue in a context of polarization, especially after the recent veto, which maintained full penalties for those involved in the anti-democratic acts.