Last Sunday (2) Blumenau in the Vale do Itajaí elected two of the 16 federal deputies who will represent Santa Catarina in the Federal Chamber. One of them is Ana Paula Lima (PT), who served four terms as an MP from the state and represented Blumenau. She is 58 years old, she is a mother, grandmother and began her social life in 2002. An obstetrician by training, she has worked in hospitals in Blumenau and Joinville.

Ana Paula Lima (Portugal) became the most popular federal MP in Blumenau – Photo: Disclosure/Press Office/ND

In the 2018 elections, Ana Paula already ran for federal deputies and was not elected by just one vote. In 2022, she was not only elected, but became the first woman from Blumenau to hold a position in the Federal Chamber. She was also the candidate with the most votes in the city, with 148,781 votes in the state and 24,501 votes in the city of Vale do Itajaí.

In an interview with Portal ND+, Ana Paula Lima spoke about the topics she intends to raise in Brasilia and talked about her activities with women’s programs. “Let the elected women bring women’s agendas into this space for discussion, into power. As a state deputy, we had a wide discussion on this topic, namely the topic of violence against women, domestic violence, gender-based violence, political violence, which many women suffer from. I don’t want to believe that Santa Catarina is one of the states with the most reported cases of violence against women. This agenda should be discussed and worked out with men. Our schools need to discuss this issue, because violence against women is also violence against the family, against society. We need a safe country that takes care of our women,” he said.

She also stated that the absence of representatives of the Vale do Itajaí in the Federal Chamber hindered investment in the region. “I am from the region of Vale do Itajaí, which had no representatives because I missed the vote in my elections in 2018, and this region is very important. Blumenau is the third largest city in the state. In Vale do Itajaí we have large companies that collect a lot for the state and for the union, and the lack of representation has also not ensured investment in this very important region,” he said.

Among other flags, she highlighted the areas of healthcare, education and infrastructure. “We understand that our population is underserved mainly in specialty consultations, elective surgeries and high complexity examinations. One of our tasks would also be to discuss the Unified Health System to increase the SUS table, because the payment for these procedures has not had the necessary adjustments for a long time.”