Lira’s name to the TCU is linked to former Yanomami health chiefs – 02/06/2023 – Politics

Re-elected for the presidency of the Chamber with record support, Arthur Lira (PP-AL) used his political capital to place in the TCU (Tribunal de Contas da União) a deputy with connections with coordinators of the body responsible for Yanomami health in the Jair Bolsonaro government (PL ).

Lira’s name for the position is deputy Jhonatan de Jesus (Republicanos-RR). He won the race in the Chamber for the TCU seat by receiving the vote of 239 deputies —his rivals, former deputy Fábio Ramalho (MDB-MG) and deputy Soraya Santos (PL-RJ) received 174 and 75 votes, respectively . Now, the deputy’s nomination needs to be confirmed by the Senate, in a session scheduled for this Wednesday (8).

Jhonatan and his father, Senator Mecias de Jesus (Republicanos-RR), have connections with three of the last coordinators of the Dsei (Special Indigenous Health District) Yanomami: Francisco Dias Nascimento, Rômulo Pinheiro and Ramsés Almeida.

The Dsei has been criticized for mismanagement in recent years, which has contributed to the worsening of the crisis involving the indigenous people.

Jhonatan and Mecias are mentioned in an investigation about the diversion of funds to combat Covid-19, in addition to being openly defenders of mining.

wanted by Sheet, Jhonatan and Nascimento did not respond. The report was unable to contact Pinheiro e Almeida.

Mecias, in turn, stated that there is no connection between his family and the coordinators of the Yanomami Dsei. “We have photos with thousands of people from the most diverse social backgrounds without this implying any relationship in the way you are insinuating”, said the senator.

A reserve major, Nascimento was head of the DSEI between July 2019 and June 2020, as stated on the Transparency Portal. Months later, in December 2020, he was appointed parliamentary assistant in Mecias’ office and allocated to work in the Republican presidency.

After his departure, Rômulo Pinheiro took over Yanomami health, who held office between July 2020 and early 2022. He is the son of Socorro Pinheiro, who in 2018 ran for state deputy for Roraima on the same ticket as father and son —in fact, they all promoted events together and shared pictures on social networks.

The main supplier for the Socorro campaign was the company J. Pereira de Jesus, which is in the name of the daughters of Mecias, Jhonatan’s sisters.

Ramsés Almeida succeeded Rômulo at DSEI, from January to November 2022, precisely the period of sharp deterioration in the health situation of the Yanomami Indigenous Land.

In 2020, he tried to be re-elected councilor in Mucajaí (RR) by the Republicans of Jhonatan and Mecias, but ended up as an alternate. The three appear together in photos from public events and meetings.

Jonathan is cited in a judgment by the STF (Federal Supreme Court) on the diversion of funds intended to combat the pandemic. One petition cites the case of a tender for the purchase of rapid tests with R$ 5 million in parliamentary amendments directed precisely by him and Mecias.

According to a statement from a member of the State Health Secretariat, he would have been pressured to favor the deputy’s allies in the contracts.

The episode would have occurred at a meeting with a councilor and a businessman. In a call, the deputy “would have confirmed to the whistleblower” that both “would act on his behalf” in the bidding process.

It was during the administrations of those sponsored by Jhonatan and Mecias that the health situation in the region reached the point where the government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) declared a state of emergency, after the spread of malaria, malnutrition and the contamination of rivers —consequences of the advance of illegal mining in the Indigenous Land.

Jhonatan’s connection with those involved in the Yanomami crisis had a negative impact on the TCU congressman’s campaign.

If he is confirmed to the court, he could stay in office for up to 36 years.

Lira called the election for the vacancy in the TCU as one of the first acts after his reappointment to the command of the House.

The mayor appointed Jhonatan as his name for the dispute in the meetings he held with state benches to ask for a vote for his re-election. The TCU candidate participated in many of them, asking his colleagues for support.

Jhonatan and Mecias are investigated in the Yoasi operation, from November 2022, which investigates political apparatus, fraud in bids and embezzlement of money and medicines for indigenous health.

In December of last year, the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office asked the Ministry of Health to carry out an intervention in the Yanomami DSEI and appoint an intervenor for him.

According to the MPF, “the genesis of all these irregularities stems from the preponderance of political criteria over technical ones for the appointment of district coordinators”.

“The last two holders of the Yanomami Dsei [Pinheiro e Rômulo] they were agents with no experience in public health or indigenous peoples and that the common trait for both is the close link with local political actors”, follows the recommendation of prosecutor Alisson Marugal.

Mecias de Jesus is also the author of a bill to allow mining on indigenous lands.

The senator told the Sheet that it does not defend any illegal activity and that its project “aims to coordinate the interests of the various actors involved with the greater objective of pacifying the indigenous-garimpeiro relationship throughout Brazil”.