Freixo:Partido wants Embratur, but does not necessarily take it – 07/07/2023 – Power

Amidst the dispute between the centrão and the government for control of the Ministry of Tourism, the president of Embratur, Marcelo Freixo, says he is confident that he will be retained in the position he has held since January. For him, there is no willingness on the part of the Lula administration to cede the agency to União Brasil.

“Embratur’s track record is not one of necessary alignment with the Ministry of Tourism”, says Freixo to Sheetremembering that the current Minister of Justice, Flávio Dino, already presided over the agency at the same time that Gastão Vieira, his political opponent in Maranhão, commanded the portfolio.

“‘Ah, but União Brasil is demanding the entire ministry.’ It is, but that doesn’t mean it will. That’s part of the game.”

After disagreements between the mayor of Belford Roxo, Waguinho (today in Republicanos-RJ), with the executive of União Brasil, his wife and Minister of Tourism, Daniela Carneiro, also decided to leave the party, which then began to demand a nomination from Lula. own ministry.

Freixo claims that, without a formed majority in Congress, Lula needs to establish governability, and that this process goes through the ministries. But, in his assessment, governance and the political project need to be in balance, without the former overlapping the project that won the election.

“There is an important limit. It is clear that Lula is not Bolsonaro”, says the former deputy. “We are in a moment of adaptation of Congress with a new leader, who is in fact a leader and does not relinquish his role. He is not a scarecrow that stays still while the others touch the field.”

After losing an arm wrestling match for the resources of the S System to finance Embratur, in recent weeks Freixo has dedicated himself to seeking political support to remain in office, reinforcing the disclosure of his performance at the head of the entity.

Among the feats, the former congressman highlights the formation of a technical team composed of professionals recognized in the field of tourism, such as Mariana Aldrigui, a professor at USP who took over the Research and Data Intelligence Management with the mission of helping Embratur to have an action “based on data, not on guesses”, which according to him has already helped the agency to promote Brazil in a more assertive way.

“We noticed that while many tourists come to Brazil for our beaches, there is a portion that is also interested in getting to know the different cultures”, says Freixo.

“Knowing this, we brought people from Chile, Colombia and Argentina to get to know the Parintins Festival, for example. We are promoting Brazil already based on this data intelligence that, incidentally, is also being built with the help of Google, who signed an agreement with us.”

Freixo also highlights the promotion of afrotourism, an aspect that highlights the African heritage and culture in different destinations in the country and the initiative to articulate the inclusion of female police officers in the security of tourist spots, to increase the sense of security of women who travel alone in Brazil.

“When I invite the world to discover our African heritage, I am fighting racism not with speech, but with an economic activity that generates jobs and income in a chain that is huge”, he says. “Tourism has everything to be the most sustainable activity in our economy, and it also induces an important civilizing process.”