Lula waves to agro in Bahia after defeats in Congress – 06/06/2023 – Power

President Lula (PT) made nods to agribusiness, defended conciliation between small and large farmers and encouraged Brazilians to throw “hate in the trash can” to better coexist in society.

The statements were given this Tuesday (6th) at the opening of the Bahia Farm Show, the largest agricultural fair in the North and Northeast, based in Luís Eduardo Magalhães (966 km from Salvador). On the occasion, the president announced investments of R$ 7.6 billion for agribusiness through the BNDES (National Bank for Economic and Social Development).

In a speech, Lula stated that the government of Jair Bolsonaro (PL) represented a setback for agribusiness, criticized the amount allocated to the Crop Plan in 2022 and defended the federal government’s action to boost the sector.

“We understand that it is the State’s obligation to create the conditions to help, because saying ‘I don’t need the government’ is a lie. Everyone needs the government: the great [produtor] needs, small needs and medium needs. If it wasn’t for the State to put money in, agribusiness would often not be as big as it is,” said the president.

Lula also criticized what he called a false rivalry between agribusiness and family farming and said that the two sectors complement each other: “These are two things that are absolutely necessary for the country. the big one. Brazil needs both because both help Brazil”.

The PT member also stated that defending the environment is not being against agribusiness and that “whoever wants to act like a bandit and only deforest will have to suffer the penalties of the law”. Finally, he criticized the previous government for encouraging rivalries and said he needs everyone to make Brazil grow.

“Throw the hate in the trash can, put your heart to beat […]. This is the world we need because human beings were born to live in community, they were not born to live on hate, to live apart, to live fighting. We are not fighting cocks.”

Lula’s nods to agribusiness happen in the midst of clashes with the ruralist group in the National Congress, part of them with defeats for the federal government.

The performance of the ruralist group was decisive in emptying the Ministry of the Environment, commanded by Marina Silva, during the processing of the provisional measure that restructured the Esplanada dos Ministérios.

The ruralistas also scored another significant victory on the environmental agenda last week when they passed the time frame bill.

The landmark thesis, defended by the FPA (Frente Parlamentar Agropecuária), determines that indigenous lands must be restricted to the area occupied by the peoples on the date of enactment of the Federal Constitution of 1988.

In a speech in Bahia, the Minister of Agriculture, Carlos Fávaro, made no reference to the government’s defeats in Congress and said that most agribusiness respects environmental rules.

“They are not going to blame Brazilian producers as criminals who destroy the environment, this is not the reality. [São] few and we have to fight those few who commit environmental crimes and take away competitiveness and respect from others”, he said.

The governor of Bahia, Jerônimo Rodrigues (PT), defended the pacification of the countryside, with peaceful coexistence between agribusiness and family farming, and said that the productive sector cannot be contaminated by party disputes.

Lula arrived in Luís Eduardo Magalhães around 10 am this Tuesday and visited the Bahia Farm Show stands. Afterwards, she went on to the opening ceremony of the agricultural fair.

Rural producers, mayors, federal deputies and ministers participated in the act. Supporters of the president, some of them coming from other cities in the region, joined the chorus in favor of Lula.

There were no protests or hostilities against the PT inside the fair. Outside, however, supporters of Bolsonaro gathered and chanted “thieves”, but did not come across the president.

During the act, Lula wore a ‘Bahia + Verde’ cap, a state government program aimed at preserving and restoring natural heritage. The cap was a gift from Eduardo Mendonça, State Secretary for the Environment and stepson of Senator Jaques Wagner.

Lula’s visit to Luís Eduardo Magalhães took place after a dispute between the Lula government and the Agrishow (International Agricultural Technology in Action Fair), in Ribeirão Preto (SP).

At the time, the organization of the fair canceled the traditional opening ceremony of the event, after the controversy involving the “disinvitation” of Carlos Fávaro so that he did not attend the act, which was attended by Bolsonaro.

In May, when he was fulfilling his agenda in Salvador, Lula announced that he would participate in the agricultural fair in Luís Eduardo Magalhães to “make the producers of São Paulo jealous”.

“I want to say that I come here to this fair just to envy the bad characters of São Paulo, who did not let my minister participate […]. There is the famous fair there in Ribeirão Preto that some fascists, some denialists, did not want him to go to the fair, they did not invite my minister”, he said at the time.

Luís Eduardo Magalhães is one of the main Bolsonarist strongholds in the Northeast. In the 2022 election, this was one of two cities in Bahia where Lula was outvoted by Bolsonaro.