With the Minister of Agriculture isolated, Alckmin makes a nod to the agro

Days after attending the National Agrarian Reform Fair, promoted by the Landless Rural Workers Movement (MST), vice-president Geraldo Alckmin (PSB) had lunch on Tuesday (16) with members of the Agricultural Parliamentary Front (FPA) . The attempt to nod to the sector took place after deputies and senators endorsed criticism against the government of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) due to its alignment with the MST.

During the meeting with deputies and senators, Alckmin said he was against land invasions because he has “total respect for private property”. The vice president also defended dialogue between the federal government and the agribusiness caucus.

“In case of invasion, there doesn’t even have to be a judicial decision, there has to be immediate repossession. I am in favor of dialogue, let’s talk, let’s try to solve it. It is necessary to build bridges”, stated Alckmin.

Despite the nod from the vice president, parliamentarians and representatives of entities linked to agribusiness are still surrounded by doubts about the position of the federal government in relation to the sector. Last weekend, for example, Alckmin and several ministers from the Lula administration took the opportunity to defend the work of the MST, which, with the return of the PT to the Planalto Palace, accentuated land invasions in several states of the country.

For the president of the FPA, deputy Pedro Lupion (PP-PR), the approximation that the government has with social movements such as the MST “distances” agribusiness and generates a “point of serious concern” on the bench. “The vice president said he does not accept land invasions, just as the minister said [Carlos] Fávaro, as other members of the government said, what we need to do is make that clear,” he said.

In the evaluation of FPA members who were at the 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.

Lula’s attacks on the agro drive away government allies

In addition to the distrust in relation to the gestures of members of the PT government, Lula’s recent speeches against agribusiness were seen as yet another point of distance between the sector and the Executive. Last week, during an event in Bahia, the president called the organizers of Agrishow, the largest agricultural technology fair in the country, “fascists”.

“There is the famous agriculture fair in Ribeirão Preto that some fascists, some denialists did not want him to see. [Carlos Fávaro, ministro da Agricultura] was at the fair, my minister was not invited”, said Lula.

Traditionally, the Agrishow has the participation of Ministers of Agriculture. At the beginning of the month, the organizers of the event, held in Ribeirão Preto (SP), called Fávaro and suggested that he go to the fair on another day, since former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL) would be at the opening. The initiative generated discomfort. The minister said that he felt “uninvited” and that, therefore, he would not go to the opening or on another day of the event.

According to Lupion, Lula’s attacks on agribusiness prevent other members of the government from establishing any bridge for dialogue with the sector. For him, the president’s positions are reflected in the non-existent base of the government in the National Congress.

“Nobody likes to get close to someone who curses you. It is obvious that this gets in the way. “, defended the president of the FPA.

Also according to Lupion, the federal government’s relationship with the sector will remain surrounded by doubts in view of the space dedicated to MST members in the Executive. “There is still doubt in relation to the members of these movements that invade properties and who are present in government positions and appointing government people, when there is a position of other members to criticize land invasions. Each one controls their allies”, completed.

Such as People’s Gazette showed, since taking office, Lula has expanded the spaces for MST members in federal government positions. Among them, the movement placed the name of Milton José Fornazieri for the Secretariat of Supply, Cooperativism and Food Sovereignty of the Ministry of Agrarian Development and Family Agriculture (MDA). With that, Fornazieri will coordinate actions within the National Supply Company (Conab), which has a budget of BRL 1.5 billion expected for 2023.

Minister of Agriculture, Carlos Fávaro, remains isolated within the Lula government

In addition to Geraldo Alckmin, Lula has appointed his Minister of Agriculture, Carlos Fávaro, to try to get around the crisis with agro. Despite this, Fávaro is seen as an isolated name within the government in the face of pressure from PT wings linked to the MST.

One of the main clashes of the PT administration with Fávaro concerns the control of Conab. The body, which in previous administrations was under the umbrella of the Ministry of Agriculture, was transferred to the Ministry of Agrarian Development, controlled by PT Paulo Teixeira.

At the beginning of this month, during a meeting with the FPA, Fávaro asked for support from the agro group to recover Conab’s management. The matter should be resolved by Parliament during the vote on Provisional Measure 1.154/2023, which restructured the Esplanada dos Ministérios. The expectation is that the matter will be analyzed later this week during a session of the National Congress.

Despite this, Teixeira and PT members are already mobilizing against the possibility of Conab returning to the Ministry of Agriculture. “Conab works with family farmers. What is Conab’s strongest program today? The PAA (Food Acquisition Program), which must be done with the small farmer. This is not the vocation of the Ministry of Agriculture, its great vocation is scale culture. Therefore, Conab must remain in the MDA”, defended Teixeira.

Along the same lines, federal deputy Nilto Tatto (PT-SP), who is an environmentalist, stated that Conab’s permanence in the MDA is essential to “combat the ideologies of defenders of agro”.

Lula tries to avoid another defeat in the National Congress

To try to avoid a defeat during the Congressional vote, Planalto Palace organizers want to build a middle ground. The expectation is that Lula will keep Conab in Agrarian Development, but transfer some attributions from the state-owned company to Agriculture.

Among these attributions would be the Minimum Price Guarantee Program (PGPM), considered a fundamental part of the agricultural policy, to reduce fluctuations in the income of rural producers and ensure a minimum remuneration.

The PGPM is seen as a beacon of food supply, encouraging or discouraging production. Thus, it would return to the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Agriculture. It is still unclear, however, whether this change would satisfy the agribusiness caucus.

“Conab, which is the body that thinks about Brazilian agriculture, which makes the plans, which sees the size of the crop, how much insurance we will need, has to be close to the Minister of Agriculture and the ministry team. There is no logic in this division ”, said deputy Pedro Lupion, from the FPA.