Lula travels to Rondonópolis in a nod to agribusiness in MT – 03/03/2023 – Market

The event is the delivery of popular housing, but the visit of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) to Rondonópolis (MT) this Friday (3) is seen as a nod to agribusiness in Mato Grosso, which in the election of the year In the past, he was mostly with ex-president Jair Bolsonaro (PL).

Known as an agribusiness center in the Midwest and with a large production of grains for export, Rondonópolis will receive Lula in a scenario that bears similarities with the first trip of the PT to the city, 20 years ago, when he was at the beginning of his first term as president. There are, however, also changes, as shown by the polls last year.

In June 2003, the PT member participated in a housing event, like this Friday, and in his speech he mentioned agribusiness, a sector that is now again on a collision course with the federal government due to land invasions by the MST (Movimento dos Trabalhadores Landless Rural Areas) in Bahia.

“Brazil, thank God, does not owe any country in the world in terms of productive capacity, especially in agriculture. Now, there is no point in producing if we don’t make our product reach the ports”, said Lula in his speech two decades ago. .

Host mayor and supporter of Lula, José Carlos Junqueira de Araújo, José Carlos do Pátio (PSB), said that the visit will help in conversations with agribusiness.

“His coming here, the first [visita] to the Midwest region, the satisfaction is great, but there is no doubt, the purpose is to build this relationship with the agro, to build this rapprochement with the agro and with the entire society of Mato Grosso. President Lula, even though he is the politician who has done the most for this region, did not win the election here. It is a statesmanlike gesture from him in the sense of looking ahead, building this relationship”, said the mayor.

The rejection of Lula is huge in the local agribusiness and in the state. A Sheet sought out six regional leaders in the sector, but only two agreed to speak with the report on the subject, albeit in a reserved manner.

Although the event brought together politicians who supported Bolsonaro, such as Governor Mauro Mendes (União Brasil), local agro leaders should not be there, according to reports to the report.

For the agribusiness representatives who demonstrated, Lula will have to show a more balanced posture in relation to land invasions and give positive signals to the sector.

In the government’s assessment, one of these signs has already been given with the appointment of Carlos Fávaro, senator for Mato Grosso, to the Ministry of Agriculture. He should accompany Lula to the event and speak this Friday.

Lula’s trip is a new chapter in a story that was accentuated during the troubled electoral period, in which the president was the target of conservative movements in Rondonópolis, who installed a billboard in the city calling him a “bandit” and “traitor”. “Here this bandit is recognized as ‘The Traitor of the Fatherland’. Out… damn it!”, said the text of the billboard.

The piece was installed on the banks of BR-364 in the city, which practically accurately reflects the electoral scenario of Mato Grosso in 2022.

Lula obtained only 35.13% of the votes in the second round in the city, compared to the 34.92% he obtained in the state. Bolsonaro reached 64.87% and 65.08%, respectively.

It was not, however, the only city in the state to install a billboard against candidates from the left. In Sinop, a billboard signed by the Rural Union had in its text the phrases “I don’t vote for a thief” and “No to politicians who support the left”.

This visit is fundamentally different from that of 2002, since that year Lula reached 52.34% of the votes in the second round in the city, when he defeated José Serra (PSDB).

“We have to turn the page of the 1922 electoral process. Look at Brazil, with its present and future problems. President Lula is the president of all Brazilians, regardless of who voted or not, which state he won or not. He said that he is going to visit all the Brazilian states and I am happy that he is already going to ours, which is an important state in the Brazilian economic order today and a national leader in agribusiness production”, said the governor to Sheet.

He says that Lula’s visit is due to the importance that the state has for being a leader in agriculture. “Agribusiness is an important chain in the Brazilian economy, and Mato Grosso is its greatest exponent. Perhaps it is a recognition of what our state is and what agribusiness represents for Brazil. It is a recognition of the importance that the state has in the agribusiness.”

The possibility of Lula meeting with agricultural leaders in Cuiabá, after the event in the interior city, was discussed, but until this Thursday this had not been confirmed and should remain on the agenda scheduled for April, according to local politicians.

In addition to the mayor and the governor, Lula will be surrounded by politicians from Mato Grosso. Ministers, more than a dozen state and federal deputies and the three state senators are expected.

SECURITY

The security prepared for this Friday for the delivery of the 1,440 apartments at Residencial Celina Bezerra should be stricter than the visit in 2003, according to city officials who met with the presidential team on Wednesday (1). That year, Lula broke with protocol, hugging residents and kissing.

Bottles, aluminum packaging, sharp objects, glasses, umbrellas, cutlery, flag poles and helmets are forbidden to those who attend this Friday. Gel alcohol can only be taken in packages of up to 100 ml. Fruits should be chopped in plastic containers. The security recommendation is that people do not carry backpacks or large bags.

Rondonópolis will not charge public transport fares this Friday, claiming to serve the families who will participate in the delivery of apartments. The city hall also disclosed on its website investments made in the city in the Lula and Dilma Rousseff governments, between 2003 and 2016.

Until this Thursday, the city government was still trying to take Lula to the inauguration of the Arthur Araújo Lula da Silva day care center, in the Alfredo de Castro Araújo neighborhood, which honors the grandson of the president who died of meningococcal meningitis four years ago, in March 2019, when Lula was arrested in Curitiba.

It is possible that there will be a protest against the president in the agro sector, but it is certain that demonstrations favorable to the PT will take place, since on Tuesday (28) militants, trade unionists and members of social movements met in Rondonópolis to discuss this Friday’s act .