Who is the bitch that went up the ramp at Lula’s inauguration?

The inauguration of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva had an unusual participant: the dog Resistance went up the ramp of the Planalto Palace, in Brasília. She has become something of a star in the president-elect’s most recent political trajectory.

Resistencia is a mixed breed dog adopted by Lula and First Lady Janja. According to Lula himself, Resistance was found in 2018, when he was still a puppy, on the streets of Curitiba (PR), dodging cars close to the PT militants’ vigil in front of the Federal Police Superintendence, where the president was trapped.

She was welcomed by two metallurgists from São Bernardo do Campo (SP), Marquinho and Cabelo, and started to live in the so-called “Lula Livre Camp”, where she was always covered by a red scarf with the party flag. The little dog was then baptized with the name of what was considered the collective mission of those gathered there.

The mascot at the vigil for Lula’s freedom fell ill and was welcomed by Janja, then the president-elect’s girlfriend, who took her home and gave her the necessary care. Resistencia abandoned the red scarves to adopt a more discreet look, with little red stars adorning her fur.

On the day of Lula’s release from prison, Resistência went to meet his new guardian and with him returned to São Bernardo do Campo, where the president-elect lived before the elections. In October 2021, she received a political nod on social media with the creation of a sector within the PT to defend animal rights.

According to Veja magazine, Resistance received, in March 2022, https://twitter.com/JanjaLula/status/1503381547117862921 for her role in inspiring the pro-animal rights movement in the party.

And she starred in other moments under the spotlight in Lula’s campaign for the presidency, when the then candidate and Janja took the dogs for a blessing on the day of São Francisco de Assis (pictured below), patron saint of animals, in a movement in line with the Catholic church.