Marketer will be made official next Tuesday (14 January) as the new minister of Secom, but in practice he has already assumed functions
The new minister of the (Presidency’s Social Communication Secretariat), Sidônio Palmeira, was included in the president’s (PT) Friday (10 January 2025) commitments even before taking office.
He will participate in two meetings:
- 10h – meeting with other ministers to discuss the decision of the North American company Meta to close information checking services, by the president as “extremely serious”;
- 3:30 p.m. – meeting with the Minister of Education, .
In the agenda, Sidônio only has his name mentioned, without indicating his position or profession.
The exchange of the current owner of Secom, , for the marketer was approved by Lula on Tuesday (7th January). However, the change has not yet been made official. The inauguration of the new minister should take place next Tuesday (14 January).
Sidônio has been making a transition with Pimenta’s team since the beginning of the week. This Thursday (Jan. 9), he is the press secretary. He had advised Lula since the PT member left the Presidency at the end of his second term, in 2011.
Chrispiniano will take over, who was interim minister from May to September, when Pimenta took leave from the position to dedicate himself to a project, hit by severe floods in early 2024.
Sidônio also appointed publicists Tiago César, to the executive secretary, and Paulo Brito, to the Advertising and Sponsorships secretariat. The current Audiovisual Secretary and Lula’s photographer for over 20 years, Ricardo Stuckert, will remain in his position.
Although he did not officially take over Secom, in practice, Sidônio has already collaborated with the government’s communication strategies since the beginning of the government in 2023. And he intensified his participation at the end of 2024.
The designed the strategy for publicizing the spending cut package, in which the Minister of Finance, Fernando Haddad, announced the measures in a broadcast on national radio and television on November 27th.
On December 20, he produced and participated in the recording in which Lula appears alongside the next president of the Central Bank, Gabriel Galípolo. In his speech, the president says that his government will never interfere in the decisions of the monetary authority and guarantees autonomy to Galípolo.
Lula was convinced by ministers to record the message to send a positive message to the financial market, of responsibility with public accounts and the fiscal framework.
After the video was aired, the dollar fell more sharply. At market close, , down 0.8%.
The following day, December 21st, Sidônio followed the production of Lula’s end-of-year speech, recorded at Palácio da Alvorada.
