Zema says that the union of states in the South and Southeast is not against anyone

The governor of Minas Gerais, Romeu Zema (Novo), said this Sunday (6) that the formation of a block of governors in defense of the interests of the states of the South and Southeast regions “is not to be against anyone”, but, yes, ” in favor of joining efforts”.

“The union of the South and Southeast will never be to diminish other regions. It is not to be against anyone, but in favor of joining efforts. Dialogue and management are fundamental for the country to have more opportunities. The distortion of facts causes division, but the strength of the Brazil is at work in unity”, wrote the miner on his social networks.

The statement is a response to the criticism he has been receiving since the publication of an interview he gave to the newspaper O Estado de S.Paulo, on Saturday (5), in which he defended political leadership in the South and Southeast, citing the North and Northeast as regions which, because they are more organized, are able to vote and approve projects of their interests in Brasilia.

“Other regions of Brazil, with states that are much smaller in terms of economy and population, unite and manage to vote and approve a series of projects in Brasília. And we, who represent 56% of Brazilians, but who were always on our own, looking at our backyards, lost”, he declared.

The governors of the south and southeast federative units are organized in the South-Southeast Consortium (Cosud), currently chaired by Ratinho Júnior (PSD), from Paraná.

Earlier this Sunday, the governor of Paraíba, João Azevêdo (PSB), president of the Nordeste Consortium, released a note in which he classified Zema’s speeches as “worrying”.

For Azevêdo, the Minas Gerais governor’s speech “indicates a movement of tension with the North and Northeast”, while the interview deepens “the logic of a subaltern, divided and unequal country”.