Brazilian federal deputy André Janones arrives in Madrid to meet Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, bringing the controversial WhatsApp mobilization strategy that helped secure Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s presidential victory.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez faces tough polls ahead of the November 29 election, leading his team to look toward Brazil for political strategy, Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen (SRF) reported.
There, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva reversed an apparent defeat in late October with the help of his digital commander, André Janones. On Monday, Lula travels to Madrid accompanied by Janones, the 42-year-old lawmaker often styled as a general commanding an army on WhatsApp.
Janones directs nearly eleven million followers through a channel named «Exército do Lula», pushing urgent missions to share videos and hashtags while avoiding opponent content to beat algorithms. In early October 2026, after Lula trailed Flávio Bolsonaro in the first round, the channel held roughly 50,000 subscribers before surging to nearly eleven million in three weeks.
The campaign relied on intense, unconventional directives, including an instruction for followers to call their mothers at 1:20 a.m. to ensure they tuned into a livestream of an 81-year-old Lula working out in a gym to prove his physical fitness. The strategy culminated in Lula winning the runoff with nearly 52 percent of the vote.
«I thank Janones, our general», Lula said on election night.
Critics on the political right argue that the lawmaker relies on unverified claims and misleading narratives. The electoral court temporarily blocked the channel shortly before the first round, though it ultimately found no direct evidence of policy-violating misinformation, allowing the campaign networks to resume.
Spanish media report that Sánchez’s inner circle invited Janones to consult on their own campaign, though Socialist party officials insist they have relied on an internal strategy for the past year and half. Monday’s meeting at the government palace in Madrid will test whether that digital blueprint transfers effectively to European politics ahead of a vote where the conservative Popular Party and the far-right Vox lead in polling.
