Lula’s minister releases 31 concessions for ally TV in Maranhão

At the center of several scandals since assuming the Communications portfolio of the Lula government, minister Juscelino Filho, returned to the headlines this Tuesday (29) after being revealed by the newspaper The State of São Paulo (Estadão) that the minister released 31 TV retransmission concessions to a businessman from his political core.

The beneficiary is TV Difusora, a company from Maranhão owned by lawyer Willer Tomaz de Souza, compadre of senator Weverton Rocha (PDT-MA), a first-time ally of the minister and one of those responsible for nominating Juscelino’s name to Lula to occupy the portfolio of Communications.

According to the Estadão, 27 of the 31 concessions are for municipalities that are located in the Legal Amazon. In these cases, the legislation states that the TV channel must, in addition to reproducing the content of the “mother broadcaster”, open space for local advertising, which guarantees greater profitability for the business.

Authorizations are given by the government free of charge and, in practice, increase the commercial value of the company. Furthermore, the advancement of TV Difusora’s coverage in the state can facilitate the political promotion of the minister and allies.

When appointed by Lula in January this year, Juscelino was described by the broadcaster as “darling”.

“TV Difusora is always open. Any information that the Ministry wants to disclose, just get in touch with us, and we are at your disposal”, said a presenter from the station at the time.

In response to the report from Estadãolawyer Willer Tomaz said that the questions will be “answered by the competent bodies, which are responsible for acting in the process of all grants carried out in Brazil”.

Tomaz has already been described by the broadcaster as a “shareholder” of the group and as president of the Difusora System Council. AT THE IRS, the person in control of Difusora is the lawyer’s sister, Christine Tomaz.

According to the report, at least seven concession requests were signed by Christine.

The Ministry department that handles the analysis of concession requests is headed by lawyer Antonio Malva Neto, who, according to Estadão, is a former partner of Willer Tomaz and former parliamentary advisor to senator Weverton Rocha.

Lawyers, engineers and experts in the field consulted by Stayo stated that the processing of concession processes is slow and subject to political influence.

To the Estadãothe Ministry of Communications said that when granting the concessions, Juscelino was based on technical criteria and denied that the minister had acted to benefit allies.

A People’s Gazette questioned the department about the concessions and is awaiting feedback.