Lula meets with social movements amid the crisis at Petrobras and requests from entities

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) met with social movements and trade unions this Saturday (6), from the morning until mid-afternoon, at Granja do Torto, one of the official residences of the Presidency of the Republic in Brasília.

The meeting was requested by the movements after the president brought together agribusiness entities last month, with whom he had a conflictual relationship over the past year. After the meeting, social entities also asked for a meeting to discuss the movements’ agendas and demand more measures from the government.

Among the entities participating this Saturday (6), were representatives of the Central Única dos Trabalhadores (CUT), Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Tera (MST), National Confederation of Workers in Agriculture (Contag), Única Petroleitos Federation (FUP), among others.

The FUP, in particular, led the president to be dissatisfied with the possible change of command at Petrobras, which had an internal crisis that worsened this week after an interview with the minister Alexandre de Minas e Energia (MME), Alexandre Silveira, about the differences with the president of the state-owned company, Jean Paul Prates.

Although the federation participated in the meeting, the chief minister of the General Secretariat of the Presidency, Márcio Macedo, stated that the replacement of the state-owned company’s command was not officially discussed. Lula’s conversation with the oil workers dealt, he says, with the company’s social role and investment plans.

“No topic was discussed in relation to changes or conflicts at Petrobras. [Lula] spoke of the need for a Petrobras that goes beyond oil, it was discussed that it has the scope of an energy company, that could be open to discussion about the ecological transition, about other forms of energy investments in the country”, he told journalists in the middle of the afternoon, after the meeting.

The Petrobras crisis intensified after information came to light, as reported by interlocutors, that the president of BNDES (National Bank for Economic and Social Development), Aloisio Mercadante, had met with Prates to mention that he had been probed by the government to take over the state-owned company.

A meeting between Lula and Prates or Mercadante was expected this weekend to discuss the crisis at Petrobras, but no meeting was scheduled and there is no expectation of any appointment.

Lula, however, did not speak to the press after this afternoon’s meeting.

Movements demand more attention

Still according to Márcio Macedo, Lula listened very “patiently” to the demands of the social movements during the meeting, and “created a dialogue based on people’s provocation”.

Macedo was asked if there was any concern from the government with the so-called “Red April”, which is the campaign that the MST runs throughout the month to intensify invasions and social mobilizations in the countryside. Last year, it ended up generating a CPI in Congress.

The minister told journalists that the “government respects the movements” and that he discussed public policies, credit and support for family farming, among other topics, with the MST. It is expected that, on Monday (8), the government will present a project – which has been called “land shelf” – which will be a list of unproductive and unoccupied Union lands that can be destined for agrarian reform.

This was a request made by Lula last year after the MST invaded an Embrapa property in April – during the “April Vermelho” movement and in July last year. “Why do we have to wait for the MST to invade the land before Incra can act”, asked Lula in a live broadcast.

Macedo also stated that this was just the first meeting with social and union entities, and that others will be scheduled. This is because representatives of movements such as Força Sindical and União Geral dos Trabalhadores (UGT) were not invited to the meeting.

“It is the first in a series of meetings that there will be with various movements that have national representation that have requested and requested to be with the president. […] We have 3 more years to complete the commitments that the president has with the Brazilian people”, he added.

In addition to the entities, representatives of evangelical, Catholic, banking, metallurgical, pastoral movements from the National Confederation of Bishops of Brazil (CNBB) and the National Union of Students (UNE), among others, also participated.