Agrishow was unhappy to invite Bolsonaro, says minister – 04/29/2023 – Market

The Minister of Agrarian Development, Paulo Teixeira, said this Saturday that the Agrishow, an agricultural fair that starts on Monday (1st), was very unfortunate in inviting former President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) and suggesting that the Minister of Agriculture, Carlos Fávaro, attend only on the second day of the event.

“It was unfortunate to invite Bolsonaro. He spent four years as president, he created disorder in Brazil. He has not done anything as president, [imagine] as a former president?”, criticized Teixeira at an MST (Landless Workers Movement) event held in São Paulo.

Politicians allied with the Lula government attended a movement lunch this Saturday, held to announce the return of the National Agrarian Reform Fair, paused during the pandemic.

MST leader João Paulo Stédile, who traveled with Lula to China, stated that Brazilian agribusiness is divided, and that the Bolsonarist side “unfortunately took over Agrishow”. For him, there is the side of the unproductive latifundium, the side of commodities, with whom the movement intends to dialogue, and the Bolsonarist side.

“I think they did us a favor with this provocation because they helped Fávaro understand that there is no point in dialoguing with this reactionary agribusiness sector. He has to preserve good, progressive agribusiness and family farming. So it was a shot in the foot for agribusiness. reactionary,” said Stédile.

This Friday (28), the federal government threatened to cancel Banco do Brasil’s sponsorship of the Agrishow (International Fair of Agricultural Technology in Action), in Ribeirão Preto, after a malaise generated by the presence of former president Jair Bolsonaro ( PL) at the event.

“To the extent that the event loses its institutional character and to the extent that there was this discourtesy towards the minister [da Agricultura, Carlos Fávaro] and with Banco do Brasil, which would accompany him at the event, sponsorship is no longer justified”, said the Minister of the Communication Secretariat, Paulo Pimenta.

Banco do Brasil informed this Saturday (29) that it will be present at Agrishow through its commercial activities to carry out business and serve its customers. The institution says it will take appropriate measures if, during the fair, there is any deviation from the planned business purposes.

The impasse began on Tuesday (25), when the president of the fair, Francisco Matturo, informed Fávaro that Bolsonaro would be present on the opening day of the fair. He suggested that, therefore, the head of Agriculture should go to the second day, on Tuesday (2), when a meeting of the FPA (Agricultural Parliamentary Front) takes place.

The conversation displeased the minister and, since then, the government has considered not participating in the fair, one of the most traditional in the sector in Latin America.

There was an expectation that Fávaro would announce lines of credit for agribusiness and give details of the elaboration of the Crop Plan 2023/24, which should be announced in June.

At an event in São Paulo, on Thursday (27), Fávaro said that the president of the fair called him to ask if he didn’t think it would be better to attend on the second, since Bolsonaro and the governor of São Paulo, Tarcísio de Freitas, would be in the first day.

“He said that there would be a big event on the second, but that I would not go on the first to avoid any embarrassment. I received the message very well. I understood and said that I would not feel any embarrassment, and that I would not go on the 1st. And I would rethink whether there was a possibility of going on day two”, he said.

The invitation for Bolsonaro to visit Ribeirão came from the president of the Rural Union of Ribeirão Preto, Paulo Junqueira. The trip to Agrishow marks the former president’s first trip after returning from the United States, where he stayed three months after losing the election.

Several agribusiness entities demonstrated to try to undo the malaise. “For the management of Agrishow, the minister has been doing a great job with great competence for the development of Brazilian agribusiness and his participation in the fair is very important for the entire sector”, said in a note the organization of the fair during the week.