Zulaiê Cobra Ribeiro (born 18 November 1943) is a Brazilian lawyer, television presenter, and politician for the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...

(PSD). For the

Brazilian Social Democracy Party The Brazilian Social Democracy Party (, PSDB), also known as the Brazilian Social Democratic Party or the Party of Brazilian Social Democracy,. is a Centre-right politics, centre-right political party in Brazil. As the formerly third largest p ...

(PSDB), she was a

federal deputy A legislator, or lawmaker, is a person who writes and passes laws, especially someone who is a member of a legislature. Legislators are often elected by the people, but they can be appointed, or hereditary. Legislatures may be supra-national ...

for

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

for three terms, as well as a

councillor A councillor, alternatively councilman, councilwoman, councilperson, or council member, is someone who sits on, votes in, or is a member of, a council. This is typically an elected representative of an electoral district in a municipal or re ...

of the city of

Career

Cobra graduated in law from the

Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo The Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo (, PUC-SP), locally known as ''PUC'' or ''Catholic University'' ('), is a private and non-profit Catholic university. It is maintained by the Catholic Archdiocese of São Paulo. The university is ...

, where she studied from 1965 until 1969. She was the first woman elected to the Council of the

Order of Attorneys of Brazil The Order of Attorneys of Brazil (, OAB) is the Brazilian Bar Association. Founded in 1930, it is responsible for the regulation of the legal profession in the country. Its national headquarters are in Brasília, Federal District. The OAB has 1,0 ...

in the São Paulo section (OAB/SP). She was a candidate for vice-president of OAB/SP on the ticket headed by José Roberto Batochio, who lost the election. Cobra presented the television program on

TV Record Record (stylized in uppercase; ), formerly known as Rede Record and RecordTV, is a Brazilian free-to-air Television broadcasting, television network. It is currently the second largest commercial TV station in Brazil, and the 28th largest in t ...

from 1983 to 1985, when she went to

Rede Globo TV Globo (stylized as tvglobo; , ), formerly known as Rede Globo de Televisão (; shortened to Rede Globo) or simply known as Globo, is a Brazilian free-to-air television network, launched by media proprietor Roberto Marinho on 26 April 1965 ...

to present ''TV Mulher''. In 1987 she began presenting the program ''SOS Mulher'', on TV Manchete. In 1986 she was a candidate for constituent federal deputy of São Paulo for the

Brazilian Democratic Movement The Brazilian Democratic Movement (, MDB) is a Brazilian political party. It is considered a " big tent party" and it is one of the parties with the greatest representation throughout the national territory, with the most numbers of senators, ...

, obtaining more than 26 thousand votes, but was not elected. She actively participated in the founding of the Brazilian Social Democracy Party in 1988, when she became close to then-senator

Mário Covas Mário Covas Almeida Júnior (; 21 April 1930 – 6 March 2001) was a Brazilian politician. Biography Covas studied engineering at the Polytechnic School of the University of São Paulo. He entered politics in his native city of Santos, in th ...

. In 1990, she was a candidate for vice-governor of São Paulo, on the ticket headed by Covas, but the election was won by Luiz Antônio Fleury Filho. In 1992, Cobra sought the PSDB candidacy for mayor of São Paulo, but withdrew her name at the convention, making room for . In the 1992 municipal election, she was elected

of the city of

. In 1994 she was elected federal deputy for the PSDB, having been re-elected twice more by the same party. In 1998, with more than 60 thousand votes, she was the first substitute for federal deputy, having soon assumed the mandate due to the leaves of parliamentarians from São Paulo. In the same year, with the death of deputy

Franco Montoro André Franco Montoro (; 14 July 1916 – 16 July 1999) was a Brazilian politician and lawyer. He was born in São Paulo as the son of André de Blois Montoro and Tomásia Alijostes. He was a senator and governor of São Paulo, winning against S ...

, she definitively assumed the mandate of federal deputy. With more than 120 thousand votes, Cobra was re-elected federal deputy by the PSDB of São Paulo in 2002. In the same legislature she was elected president of the Chamber's Foreign Relations and National Defense Committee. In 2003, she was admitted by President

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (; born Luiz Inácio da Silva; 27 October 1945), known Mononym, mononymously as Lula, is a Brazilian politician, trade unionist and former metalworker who has served as the 39th president of Brazil since 2023. A mem ...

to the Order of Military Merit in the rank of special Grand Officer. During her time in the Chamber of Deputies, Cobra was president of the Permanent Committee on Foreign Relations and National Defense and also of the Special Committee of Constitutional Amendment Bill (PEC) nº 534/02 on Municipal Guards; first vice-president of the Special Commission on the

UN Convention against Corruption The United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) is the only legally binding international anti-corruption multilateral treaty. Negotiated by member states of the United Nations (UN) it was adopted by the UN General Assembly in October 2 ...

; second vice-president of the Special Commission on

Nepotism Nepotism is the act of granting an In-group favoritism, advantage, privilege, or position to Kinship, relatives in an occupation or field. These fields can include business, politics, academia, entertainment, sports, religion or health care. In ...

; third vice-president of the Permanent Constitution and Justice and Drafting Committee; rapporteur for the Reform of the Judiciary in the Federal Chamber and also for the Special Commission PEC nº 96/92 on Modifications in the Structure of the Judiciary. She was furthermore holder and head of various other committees and commissions. In 2006, Cobra was a candidate for the first substitute senator on the ticket headed by Guilherme Afif Domingos in the coalition of the PSDB and the

Liberal Front Party The Democrats (, DEM) was a centre-right political party in Brazil that merged with the Social Liberal Party to found the Brazil Union in 2021. It was founded in 1985 under the name of Liberal Front Party (, PFL) from a dissidence of the defunct ...

(PFL). For not being able to get a position in the party and with Afif's defeat to

Eduardo Suplicy Eduardo Matarazzo Suplicy (born 21 June 1941) is a Brazilian left-wing politician, economist and professor. He is one of the founders and main political figures on the Workers Party of Brazil (PT). In the municipal elections of São Paulo in ...

, she left the party, criticizing the weak opposition it made to the then-governing

Workers' Party Workers' Party is a name used by several political parties throughout the world. The name has been used by both organisations on the left and right of the political spectrum. It is currently used by followers of Marxism, Marxism–Leninism, Maoism ...

. Until May 2016, Cobra presented the program , on Rádio Globo AM in São Paulo, alongside radio host Rony Magrini, who succeeded her in the presentation. She is one of the lawyers representing businessman Pablo Russel Rocha, convicted in 2016 of a triple homicide committed in 1998. Selma Heloísa Artigas da Silva died after being dragged for around two kilometers through the streets of

Ribeirão Preto Ribeirão Preto (Portuguese pronunciation: Help:IPA/Portuguese, �ibejˈɾɐ̃w ˈpɾetu is a city and a metropolitan area located in the northeastern region of São Paulo (state), São Paulo state, Brazil. Ribeirão Preto is the eighth-la ...

, with his left arm tied with the seat belt of the businessman's car. Selma was 22 years old, the mother of two children and pregnant with her third. The defense appealed to the Court of Justice so that Pablo could appeal freely. Therefore, Pablo was released after a week.

Personal life

Cobra is the daughter of Manuel Gonçalves Ribeiro and Maria Amélia Cobra. She is the widow of economist José Maria Arbex, who died in a car accident in 1988. With him, she had three children: Fabrício, Sergei and Thiago. She is the sister of physical trainer Nuno Cobra.

Honours

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cobra, Zulaie Living people 1943 births People from São José do Rio Pardo São Paulo (state) politicians 20th-century Brazilian women politicians 20th-century Brazilian politicians 21st-century Brazilian women politicians 21st-century Brazilian politicians Municipal Chamber of São Paulo councillors Women municipal councillors in Brazil Brazilian women television presenters Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo alumni Recipients of the Order of Military Merit (Brazil) 20th-century Brazilian women lawyers 21st-century Brazilian women lawyers 20th-century Brazilian lawyers 21st-century Brazilian lawyers