Lula will use Bahia fair to wave to agribusiness

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) arrives, this Tuesday (6), in the city of Luís Eduardo Magalhães, in the interior of Bahia, with the aim of making a nod to agribusiness. The petista intends to participate in the opening of Bahia Farm Show 2023, the largest agricultural and business fair in the North and Northeast.

Inside the Planalto Palace, the expectation among PT members is that Lula will use the event to reestablish a bridge with agribusiness. The assessment among the allies is that the president needs to alleviate the crises with the sector, which may even result in the expansion of the government base within the National Congress.

Lula’s participation in the event comes after the PT government clashed with the agribusiness sector at Agrishow, in Ribeirão Preto (SP), in May. The Minister of Agriculture, Carlos Fávaro, stopped participating in that fair.

At the time, the Planalto Palace threatened to withdraw the sponsorship of Banco do Brasil from the event, which is the largest fair in the sector in Latin America, because of the invitation by the organizers to former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL).

After this clash, Lula went so far as to claim that the organizers of Agrishow were “fascists and denialists”, which amplified the government’s crisis with the agribusiness sector. “I mean I come to this fair [da Bahia] just to envy the bad characters of São Paulo who didn’t let my minister participate”, said the president still in May.

Lula’s speeches amplified the crisis with the sector and, since then, members of the government began to expand their nods to agribusiness to try to increase support for the PT administration. This search for rapprochement takes place mainly through Minister Carlos Fávaro and Vice President Geraldo Alckmin (PSB).

“that he [Lula] take advantage of the moment to pacify the relationship with agribusiness and to condemn land invasions [por parte de MST]. Furthermore, it would be important to highlight the role of agriculture in GDP growth. Lula has a great opportunity to do something in the opposite direction of what has been done, let him take advantage”, commented federal deputy Lieutenant Coronel Zucco (Republicanos-RS).

Government tries to make the event in Bahia a bridge between Lula and agribusiness

In the government’s calculations, Lula’s statements against agribusiness mainly reflect resistance on the part of parliamentarians who are part of the Parliamentary Front for Agriculture (FPA). The bench brings together approximately 250 deputies and senators.

In the evaluation of members of the front who were recently meeting with Alckmin, it is necessary that wings of the PT government abandon ideological agendas to dialogue with all sectors, including agribusiness. For this group, it is no use for the vice president and the Minister of Agriculture, Carlos Fávaro, to give a signal and other members of the PT to go against the grain of the dialogue.

In the wake of this pressure, Lula took advantage of a speech at the Federation of Industries of São Paulo (Fiesp) to state that he wants the growth of agribusiness, and not just the industrial segment.

“There are people who talk about industrial policy growth, industrial growth, but relegate agribusiness, commodity exports, to a very secondary place. It is important to know that we want Brazilian industry to grow, but we (also) want our commodity exports to continue growing, we want our agribusiness to continue growing”, said Lula.

This time, the expectation is that Lula’s speech in Bahia will focus mainly on the growth of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) released last week. According to the study released by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, GDP grew 1.9% during the first quarter of this year in Brazil, driven by the performance of agribusiness, which recorded a rise of 21.6%.

Lula’s visit may be marked by protests from exhibitors

Despite the government’s efforts, producers who will be present at the Bahia Farm Show do not rule out demonstrations against Lula’s participation in the event. The fair takes place in Luís Eduardo Magalhães, the city in Bahia where Bolsonaro defeated Lula in last year’s election race.

According to Deputy Captain Alden (PL-BA), exhibitors threaten not to open their stands during Lula’s visit to the event. “There is a proposal of retaliation for his presence in the place. Several producers who are setting up their stands are threatening not to open during Lula’s visit to the place”, stated the deputy.

Still according to him, who will be present at the event, the city is “mostly conservative”. To try to minimize the impacts of possible protests, the expectation is that the event will be closed only for Lula’s participation. With this, the external public should access the space only after the opening ceremony and the departure of the PT member.

Congressman Rodrigo Valadares (União-SE) considers it regrettable that the president uses agribusiness as a political game. “Lula’s visit to the Bahia Farm Show was, to say the least, necessary. It is your duty to get to know what agribusiness in our Northeast has to offer and what it is already delivering to Brazil,” he said.

“I only regret that the decision to go is merely revanchist for President Bolsonaro’s trip to Agrishow, in São Paulo, at the beginning of last month, wanting to create a narrative of agro do good and agro do mal”, highlighted Valadares.

In this edition, a record number of exhibitors is confirmed, with 420 companies representing around 1,400 brands. According to the organizers, the expectation is to move more than the R$ 7.9 billion registered in sales last year, as well as the more than 101 thousand visitors.