The is forced to pretend to discuss the expulsion of its vice-president Washington Quaquá, mayor of Maricá (). He is accused of having ordered the murder of the councilwoman. One is a deputy and the other is a counselor at the Rio Court of Auditors. Both are in prison. Quaquá defends their right to a fair trial and says he is not convinced that they are guilty.
There is a showcase PT and Quaquá is a root PT member. He joined the party at the age of 14, in 1985, and became one of the most influential political figures in Rio. He was elected mayor of Maricá in 2008. He was re-elected in 2012 and to this day the PT governs the municipality. Quaquá returned to city hall in 2024 with 74% of the votes.
When Bolsonarism could fit into a car, Quaquá approached his supporters with an explanation capable of defining it: “It’s only against those who love to theorise the Baixada while drinking beer in Ipanema.”
Maricá is in the same state as Baixada Fluminense, but it belongs to another world. 70% of the municipality’s revenue comes from royalties from oil extracted offshore. In 2024 it was R$2 billion.
With this wealth, Maricá was the first city in the country to introduce zero fares on public transport. 3,000 houses were delivered there and one of the condominiums was called “Carlos Marighella”. Another was named after a fellow activist of the then president. Some of them lacked water and sewage services.
Back at city hall, Quaquá wants to transform Maricá into the “City of Utopias”. In addition to road works, it promises to install three cable cars and create the “largest natural swimming pool in the world” in a municipality that has 46 kilometers of beaches. The work involves a four-kilometer-long rock breakwater. Quaquá also wants to bring an aircraft factory and install a rocket launch base in the municipality.
Outside the parochial utopia, Quaquá is a faithful companion of . In 2015, he warned: “You were attacked, we hit you back.” Years later, in , he slapped deputy Messias Donato and insulted him. “They were insulting Lula,” he explained.
Lurian, the president’s only daughter, was hired into the office of state deputy Rosangela Zeidan, Quaquá’s wife. Diego, the couple’s son, was vice-mayor of Maricá and became secretary of Solidarity Economic Development for the municipality of Rio.
Maricá has a statue of Che Guevara and Quaquá has already spent R$2 million hiring private security services.
Its causes are not always those of the showcase PT. He defended his support in the race for president of the Chamber in 2021 and never supported his candidacy for Mayor of . When he was beaten with a difference of 1 million votes, Quaquá commented on the result: “Chronicle of a death foretold”.
The showcase PT will continue to pretend that it is discussing Quaquá’s expulsion. But he will remain firm and strong calling the shots in Rio, smoothing out Bolsonaro supporters, promising a rocket launch base and managing his royalty income from an industrial activity that takes place kilometers from Maricá.
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