Senator who supported Bolsonaro joins Boulos after controversies – 03/05/2024 – Power

Alexandre Giordano, senator from São Paulo for the MDB, is involved in the election for the Mayor of São Paulo — but on the opposite team to that of his party colleague Ricardo Nunes. The congressman brought his support to Guilherme Boulos (PSOL), but also a history of controversies and ruptures in politics.

Giordano, a businessman who was a substitute and inherited the chair after the death of Major Olímpio (PSL) due to Covid in 2021, is disaffected by Nunes and has been circulating with the psolist since last year on agendas in the capital. He was, for example, on the platform at Marta Suplicy’s PT membership last month.

Giordano, however, was not announced at the time in which the former mayor returned to the party to be Boulos’ vice president, in conjunction with Lula (PT). He stood on the side of the stage, a few steps away from the president, whom he started to support and now follows on his agenda in São Paulo.

The senator was once part of Jair Bolsonaro’s party when the former president was in the PSL, but distanced himself from him and his group when he became a senator. He was also a member of the PSDB under the influence of Bruno Covas, with whom he was friends, but did not get along with Nunes.

With the death of Covas, in May 2021, Nunes became mayor — and the raids with Giordano began. The emedebista was reportedly irritated with the senator for having said in an interview with Veja São Paulo magazine that he would “thicken the broth” of Nunes, implying that the MDB would take over the management of Covas.

The mayor’s assistants say that Giordano was received by Nunes on only one occasion and had hinted at interest in sweeping contracts, which displeased the president. The senator states that he did not discuss this issue with the mayor and that he met him at least three times at the city hall.

The rupture became clear when the senator decided to open a dissent in the MDB in 2023 and run as a pre-candidate for mayor. At the time, Nunes reacted with disdain: “Who is Giordano?”, he asked reporters who were reporting on the case.

Giordano’s godfather in the MDB, former president Michel Temer removed the senator from the idea, but the episode gave him a bargain: he would not be a candidate, but neither would he support the name chosen by the party.

Nunes tells Sheet who asked the president of the MDB, Baleia Rossi, to expel Giordano because of the alliance with Boulos, but heard that it was not the time. The importance of an additional seat in the Senate for the MDB reduces the chances of retaliation, but emedebists claim that their colleague is isolated in the party and even hope that he leaves or takes a leave of absence.

Despite his short career in Congress —he took office in March 2021, five months before migrating to the MDB—, the businessman accumulates an extensive list of opponents and accusations involving his name.

The loudest case came to light in 2019, when Giordano was a figure in a political crisis in Paraguay involving the Itaipu binational hydroelectric plant. According to investigations, the then deputy used the name of the Bolsonaro family to gain accreditation in negotiating the purchase of energy. He denies having spoken on behalf of the government or the Bolsonaro clan.

Politicians who lived with Giordano or who ended up getting involved in disputes against him describe him as a lobbyist — a claim he rejects — who has already taken to state and municipal governments his intention to participate in garbage collection and landfill contracts.

In response, the senator says that he has never worked in the public sector in the waste sector.

After going hungry and starting his life selling hot dogs at the age of 13, according to what he says, Giordano is now a partner in seven companies with a variety of activities: metal structures, mining, real estate, waste collection, earthmoving, electricity distribution, recycling, farm hotel and others.

In 2018, he declared R$1.5 million in assets to the Electoral Court, including shares in companies, vehicles and jet skis.

Those around Nunes consider that the senator’s migration to the rival team has to do with business interests that were not met by the mayor or that Giordano prospected in the federal government.

Asked about the suspicions surrounding him and the potential damage of his support for Boulos’ campaign, the senator says that what exists against him are “stories and not facts”.

“There is nothing with materiality. They want to invent a story to put a stone in Boulos’ path. My story is that of a good man, a good businessman.”

Members of Boulos’ pre-campaign treat Giordano as a supporter, but avoid assigning him any special role. Active in the north zone, he participated in federal deputy meetings in the region, but did not gain a specific role on the committee.

Despite the advantage of having a party colleague of the mayor, the PSOL pre-candidacy has ruled out exploiting this to wear down Nunes for now. Behind the scenes, the senator’s presence is respected, but his political strength is called into question — he was not voted on directly and has a weak link with the left.

On his Instagram page, where he posts photos with the deputy on visits to hospitals and MTST (Homeless Workers Movement) camps, Giordano has already paid tribute, for example, to Bolsonaro and Olavo de Carvalho, a guru on the Brazilian right.

At a meeting on housing in 2023, alongside Boulos, the emedebista said that his credibility could be attested by the pre-candidate, whom he called “my companion, my friend”. When summarizing the reasons that brought him closer to the psolist, he usually repeats: “He beat the saint with this guy.”

Giordano says that he was the one who sought out Boulos for a conversation and, upon meeting him, he immediately noticed an affinity, with a common vision for social problems. A Sheet the senator says he sees the ideals of the toucan in Boulos, and not in Covas’ former vice-president — and claims that the PSOL candidate will win the election.

According to Giordano, his role is to help change the image of Boulos among businesspeople and traders. “It’s a class that understands that he is an invader. Boulos never invaded anyone’s house. On the contrary, he has a vision of entrepreneurship for São Paulo.”

Nunes’ allies minimize the senator’s support for Boulos, remembering that Giordano does not have his own base. But, for the senator, his capital is not electoral — his role is to act behind the scenes.

Giordano defines himself as a centrist politician, critical of the flá-flu that Brazilian politics has become. He himself, however, moved from Bolsonaro’s base, whom he supported in 2018, to Lula’s just before the 2022 election.

“My intelligence led me more to success than to error. I looked and said: Lula will win. The cosmos conspired in favor. I was sure”, he says about the tightest election since redemocratization.

For Giordano, Nunes “left the center and went to the extreme right” when attending Bolsonaro’s event on Sunday (25). “He chose a side. And Bruno [Covas] I hated Bolsonaro.”

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Giordano’s controversies and what he says

Spending in the Senate
The Federal Public Ministry asked the STF (Supreme Federal Court) to subpoena the senator after finding that Giordano spent R$3,900 on gasoline and diesel in one day, which would be enough to fuel more than 12 vehicles. The senator’s office says that the expense corresponds to different days, but was invoiced on the same date.

Itaipu
Giordano was involved in a diplomatic crisis related to the agreement between Brazil and Paraguay to purchase energy from Itaipu. Giordano was in Paraguay with executives from the Brazilian company Léros and participated in negotiations for the sale of surplus energy to that firm. Investigations indicate that he mentioned the Bolsonaro family to accredit himself. Giordano denies that he spoke on behalf of Bolsonaro and that he acted as a lobbyist for Léros, as he himself has companies that could enter the business.

Room rental in Olímpio
Giordano helped Major Olímpio structure the PSL in São Paulo, with the party’s headquarters operating in the same building as the businessman’s office, in the north zone. In the 2018 campaign, Olímpio’s committee worked in the office and paid R$6,000 to a Giordano company for the location. There are those who say that Giordano financed Olímpio’s campaign, but he denies it and explains that he only provided operational support.

Ceagesp
When president of Ceagesp, Bolsonarista Ricardo Mello Araújo accused Giordano of wanting to enter the warehouse, making appointments for positions and asking for a garbage collection tender to be directed to his company. The senator says he wanted to install a soup kitchen program there, but Araújo stopped him. He filed a complaint against Araújo for crimes against honor and says that he never wanted to interfere in bids. Giordano states that, on the contrary, he warned Araújo about how to save R$800,000 a month on the garbage contract.

Port of Santos
Giordano forwarded to the Ministry of Ports and Airports a list of complaints with alleged cases of corruption and bribery involving Anderson Pomini, president of the Santos Port Authority (APS). The senator’s attitude was considered retaliation for the dismissal of an ally of his at APS, who denies the accusations of corruption and will sue him for slanderous allegations and abuse of power. Giordano says that he had no nominees at the APS and that he only asked for explanations after receiving a dossier with the accusations.

Company transferred to former employee
The São Paulo Civil Police, according to the Metrópoles portal, is investigating Giordano for having transferred one of his companies to a former employee, who recognized his signatures on the transfer documents, but said he was not aware that he was a partner in the firm, which has a debt collected in court. Giordano says the employee knew about the transfer, which was made to pay for his termination.