The President (PT) participated on Thursday (29) in the ceremony resuming operations of the port of Itajaí, on the north coast of, without the presence of the state governor, the pockets () and the mayor of the municipality, Robison Coelho (PL).
The petista adopted electoral tone in speech and criticized (PL), without mentioning the name of the predecessor, stating that he created an environment of hatred when he was in government. He mentioned the absence of the chief executive of Santa Catarina, who was called ungrateful by the Minister of Ports and Airports, Silvio Costa Filho ().
The ceremony also featured a speech by businessman Wesley Batista, owner of. The company is a controller of JBS Terminals, which operates the city port via temporary concession agreement. The cargo terminal has been under federal government management since January this year.
Lula began his speech by saying that a federal government never invested so much in Santa Catarina and, without quoting Bolsonaro’s name, said “the other” just set up “a hatred office to tell a lie for four years.”
In a campaign tone, he criticized the previous government and mentioned the absence of the governor and the mayor. “I know they are angry and they didn’t even come and they won’t come. Because the misfortune of those who tell the first lie that spends all the time lying,” he said.
“I want to see in the direct confrontation. If they have the courage to say what they did in this country but to be a game, except to show the weapon, except to legalize the possession of weapon, except to show machine gun. I prefer to show the book,” concluded the petista.
The absences of the governor and Robison Coelho were remembered early in the ceremony, in the speech of the superintendent of the port of Itajaí, João Paulo Tavares.
“We live a strange time. Of people who work for the union and people who feed the division. To this day we have not been able to approach the city properly. To this day we have not received the visit of Jorginho Mello, who ignores the importance of Porto. It seems increasingly difficult to dialogue. But we will not give up,” he said.
Then Silvio Costa Filho climbed the tone: “If you have a governor who is being ungrateful with President Lula is from this state here,” he said. “But the truth always comes. The more they cheer against, the more the president works,” Costa Filho continued.
The absence of Jorginho at this Thursday’s event was expected. The Santa Catarina government said to Sheet That he would fulfill an agenda in São Lourenço do Oeste, municipality in the west of the state, 580 kilometers from Itajaí.
The bad relationship between the president and the state governor is public. The pocketist often criticizes Lula in his lines, and the petista has already complained about the stance of the state executive.
Jorginho also did not attend Lula’s first visit to Santa Catarina in the current term in August last year. At the time, the agent visited Itajaí and Palhoça to accompany the launch of a new Navy Ship and inaugurate the Road of the Greater Road, highway parallel to BR-101 in the state.
The port of Itajaí was also a case of friction between the petista, the Santa Catarina governor and the Mayor Itajaiense. It was administered by the municipality of the same name, but the movement of containers was practically interrupted at the end of 2022, starting a debate on which concession model should be adopted.
The discussion extended until the end of last year, when the Lula administration chose to take over the administration of Porto. Federalization generated protests by Jorginho and Robison Coelho. The federal government’s decision was barred by the court, but later authorized.
Petista management announced this fifth investments of R $ 844 million in modernization and expansion of the capacity of Porto, including the dredging of the Itajaí-Açu River channel (R $ 90 million).
Wesley Batista made a short speech and said “two or three months and Porto will be operating in its maximum capacity.”
He and his brother, in Lula’s third term seven years after they were at the center of a political scandal that almost cost Michel Temer’s mandate (MDB) and award -winning Operation Lava Jato. The two met Lula last year at Planalto Palace.
Both were removed from 2017 until the beginning of 2024 of the JBS board of directors, when they resigned to market pressure positions amid investigations of.
In 2023, the minister of the (Supreme Federal Court) suspended the effects of the leniency agreement that J&F (Holding that manages the family businesses) had signed with the MPF (Federal Prosecutor) in 2017. He complied with the request of the Baptist, who alleged coercion from Lava Jato prosecutors to holding company.
The petista’s trip to Porto happens amid the arrival of a ship with 7,000 cars from Chinese manufacturer byd. The operation for removal of vehicles is considered complex and continues until the weekend.
