‘Water barons’ have an advantage for 2024 – 10/22/2023 – Power

The images of wells being dug, water tanks delivered and new water tankers in circulation promise more than ever to be omnipresent in the electoral campaigns of semi-arid municipalities in 2024.

In most of these situations, thanks will be given to the ‘water barons’, that type of politician influential enough in Brasília to appoint heads of state-owned companies linked to water security and mobilize a large number of amendments and resources.

These political bigwigs have the advantage to gain support in city halls as allies who, in some cases, are their brothers, brothers-in-law or cousins.

Series of reports from Sheet showed how these resources and equipment sent can end up in less needy cities, while others, without strong political sponsors, end up ignored. There are even places with a stock of goods such as water tanks, many of which have already deteriorated, under allegations that they are reserves for the election period.

In exchange for political support, Jair Bolsonaro (PL) distributed a record number of amendments and handed over to the center the main bodies that deal with the issue of water security, Dnocs (National Department of Works against Droughts) and Codevasf (Companhia de Desenvolvimento dos Vales São Francisco and Parnaíba). The Lula (PT) government expanded this policy even further.

The case of the most powerful parliamentarian in the country, the president of the Chamber, Arthur Lira (PP-AL), is emblematic. Lira appointed both the state coordinator of Dnocs, Arlindo Garrote, and the state superintendent of Codevasf, his cousin Joãozinho Pereira.

Both had electoral strongholds privileged by wells and other assets, with the help of Lira. The two are tipped to run for mayor next year: Arlindo, in the city of Estrela de Alagoas, which he has governed before; Joãozinho is considered to run for the Junqueiro Executive.

The scenario is similar in Bahia, where federal deputy Elmar Nascimento (União Brasil) transformed Campo Formoso (406 km from Salvador) into one of the main destinations for amendments for the acquisition of tanks and water tanks.

In 2022, the city of 71 thousand inhabitants benefited from the donation by the federal government of 500 water tanks of 10 thousand liters, 400 water tanks of 1,000 liters and 400 water tanks of 500 liters. In September, at least half of the larger tanks were still stored in a city hall warehouse.

Campo Formoso is Elmar’s political birthplace and is led by his brother Elmo Nascimento (União Brasil), who will run for re-election next year. Before being elected in 2020, Elmo was one of the superintendents of Codevasf in Bahia and allocated equipment to his hometown.

At the time, Codevasf was already Elmar’s area of ​​influence, who appointed Marcelo Moreira to the position of CEO of Codevasf.

The distribution of water tanks in Campo Formoso led to an electoral judicial investigation action filed by the opposition party led by Rose Menezes, but the case was closed by the courts.

The 2024 election should replicate the historic clash between the city’s two main political groups: Boca Branca, led by Elmar Nascimento, and Boca Preta, led by Adolfo Menezes (PSD), president of the Legislative Assembly of Bahia.

At the polls, Elmo Nascimento must face off against former mayor Rose Menezes (PSD), Adolfo’s sister, in an atmosphere of rivalry worthy of football fans that divides the city during the electoral period.

The water issue should be one of the main themes of the municipal dispute. Since the beginning of the year, water tanks have been distributed at political events in communities such as Campo de Fora, Mandacaru and Cercadinho. One of the deliveries took place in July, when Elmar demonstrated strength by taking two ministers to the city.

In the same vein, Adolfo Menezes has directed amendments to the state budget towards the acquisition of water equipment, which was donated to community associations. In the 2023 budget, there were 30 boxes of 500 liters, 1,000 liters and 5,000 liters.

Elmar’s influence continues in other municipalities. In 2022, the Sheet caught Codevasf installing cisterns in Juazeiro (BA) on the eve of the election in homes marked with Elmar propaganda stickers, after mediation by an allied councilor. This, according to experts, constitutes a situation of vote buying.

Often, nominations are divided between important politicians in each location.

In Sergipe, for example, the former federal deputy and state president of União Brasil, André Moura, appointed the superintendent of Codevasf, Thomas Jeferson França Costa.

The coordinator of Dnocs, Daniel Rezende, is a name of federal deputy Gustinho Ribeiro (Republicans).

Responsible for sending more than R$13 million in rapporteur amendments in 2021 to Dnocs in his state, Gustinho also used resources to benefit Lagarto (SE), a city governed by his wife, Hilda Ribeiro, with items such as wells and water trucks, for example.

The family’s priority now is to make a successor to Hilda, who has already been re-elected. Among the names considered is Gustinho’s niece, Rafaela Ribeiro.

Senator Marcelo Castro (MDB-PI), rapporteur of the 2023 budget, is another who nominated the superintendent of Codevasf in his state, Piauí. In his case, the nominee is his own son, Marcelo Castro Filho.

The company makes more than R$200 million in investments in dams, wells, pipelines and cisterns, which will serve to boost the senator’s power of influence, whose support in the 2024 elections could be a decisive factor.

In the backlands of Pernambuco, federal deputy Fernando Filho (União Brasil) is the representative of the Bezerra Coelho political clan who seeks to transfer to his allies political capital linked to water works and equipment raised decades ago by his family and now driven by parliamentary amendments .

In the 2024 elections, the family will seek to maintain control of its political group over the city of Petrolina, benefited by the clan.

Deputies who choose to send their amendments via Codevasf have access to a catalog similar to that of businesses. There, there is a brief description of the purpose of that asset and the estimated value.

A water tanker, for example, has values ​​ranging between R$500,000 and R$700,000. Wells cost between R$95,000 and R$170,000.

The 2,000-liter water tanks are cheaper items, estimated at R$1,500. Despite the price, they give visibility and reach to parliamentarians’ deliveries.

Last year, via Codevasf, almost 124 thousand reservoirs were distributed, at a cost of R$28 million, almost all of which went to Bahia.

Of the total spent, R$12.8 million were via rapporteur amendments, which make it difficult to identify the parents of the resource.

If deliveries and influence in bodies already affect city hall disputes, it could be the difference in the election of parliamentarians themselves. And it gives you self-disclosure on social media.

A quick internet search returns several politicians who call themselves “water deputy”, “water councilor” and “water mayor”.

In Rio Grande do Norte, in 2022, the then Senate candidate Rogério Marinho (PL) called himself “water senator” and sought to link his name to works and deliveries of water equipment. In Jair Bolsonaro’s government, he had held the position of Minister of Regional Development, to which Codevasf is linked, and was accused by opponents of having committed abuse of political power by allegedly illegally using this position to obtain support.

One of his opponents asked the Electoral Court to open two investigations into Marinho’s conduct, which are still ongoing.

Marinho was elected and says that all his actions were guided by legality and technical criteria, and he is “at peace about the outcome” of the electoral investigations.

The report also sought out Arthur Lira, Elmar Nascimento, Fernando Filho, Gustinho Ribeiro and Marcelo Castro to comment on the topic, but until the publication of this report there was no response.

Codevasf stated that it “uses resources from parliamentary amendments in multiple regional development initiatives, within which it carries out assessments of technical and legal adequacy and socioeconomic convenience”.

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