The WhatsApp ‘general’ behind Lula’s election comeback in Brazil

After Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva won Brazil’s presidential runoff on October 25, the president thanked congressman André Janones, calling him “our general.” The 42-year-old lawmaker led an online campaign to rally Lula’s supporters after the president finished behind Flávio Bolsonaro in the first round. Janones’s WhatsApp channel, Exercito do Lula (“Lula’s Army”), grew from about 60,000 followers after the first round to almost 11 million by election day. He had also helped coordinate Lula’s digital campaign in the 2022 runoff against Jair Bolsonaro.