In an interview with Sheet Regarding the road he illegally opened when he was mayor of Porto Walter (AC), deputy Zezinho Barbary (PP-AC) stated that he would “do it all over again” and described the requirements of the environmental law as “bureaucracy”. He also said that his conduct sought to respond to the outcry of the local population and remove the city from isolation, as there is no land route to access it.
The congressman said that he nicknamed “José Dirceu”, a former minister of Lula (PT) convicted in the Mensalão and Lava Jato, the tractor embargoed by Ibama at the time of the deforestation because he wanted to put the machine into operation even with the restrictions of the environmental agency. According to him, Dirceu was an example of a person who worked even when he was in prison, remembering the PT member’s arrest in the Petrobras corruption case.
Barbary denies having carried out any act for his own benefit when working on the road and says that the fact that the road passed through his family’s land actually caused disagreements with his relatives, who, according to him, were afraid that it could create an opportunity for invasions on their property.
Regarding the audio he sent to allies asking for the hiring of indigenous people to work on the project, the deputy denied that this constituted a co-optation strategy. He said the objective was to show that the indigenous community was in favor and was integrated into the construction of the road.
Asked about the fact that residents of Porto Walter reported that in speeches he said he did not regret having started the opening of the Barbary branch without authorization from environmental agencies, the congressman confirmed his position.
“It wasn’t for me, I didn’t open a branch to my farm, I opened the branch for the people, I was representing the people at that moment. I say and repeat, as long as I’m alive: if I were mayor of Porto Walter again and had to fight for this road, I would do it all over again”, he stated.
“Today, when people go to the polls, they will vote for someone with the hope that something will improve for them. And in a country like ours, full of bureaucracy, the laws even prohibit anyone who wants to work on these environmental issues.”
“Those who live in the grotões, those who live within the reserves, those who live within the national parks, are there being coerced, persecuted by the courts themselves, prevented from working, from earning their livelihood,” he says.
Asked about the nickname he gave to a tractor embargoed by Ibama, the deputy explained why he compared the machine to Dirceu.
“The tractor was the only one we had at the time. And when we were there finishing this extension, it was already arriving in the community, they actually showed up there, the people from Ibama came and seized the tractor and put some tapes on it. And at the moment, the entire population was close by, I said: ‘it’s the only tractor we have here. Either you’re going to take the tractor or you’re going to arrest me. Or, when you leave here, I’m going to continue working with this one. tractor’.”
Barbary says that he concluded the protest against Ibama inspectors by citing the PT leader. “And then I asked: ‘I saw José Dirceu at the time, who was arrested at the oil tank, and even though he was arrested, he continued working. Why can’t the trapped tractor continue the branch line to serve the people?’.”
As for the fact that the Barbary branch passes through his family’s property, the congressman said that this did not bring him benefits, but problems.
“The stretch is within this branch that belongs to the Barbary family, which, at the time, was already at risk due to invasion, people were already there, they were already planting crops on that branch that passed through the land. I also opened this branch for them, as they already had plantations, and a large part of it had already been opened by the other administration that preceded me”, he said.
“We had enmity within the family itself, because they didn’t want me to open, which would make it easier for more invasions, and even so I chose to be on the side of the population and not the family.”
In relation to the audio in which he suggests to allies the hiring of indigenous people to work on the extension project, the parliamentarian says that the co-optation strategy “never crossed his mind”. “My only intention was to show that they [indígenas] Yes, they want to, they even help to open the road.”
Regarding the allocation of R$200,000 to regularize the work, Barbary states that the measure seeks to meet the wishes of the population of Porto Walter.
“I never opened a branch to benefit myself. My intention of directing these resources is precisely to give the population the right to come and go, and fulfill the people’s dream of leaving isolation. And to contribute to the state government that claims it has no resources for this purpose.”
Wanted by Sheetthe Government of Acre stated that in the part of the work in which the state administration was involved, “there was a routing error during the execution that went 3.5 km into the Jaminawa do Igarapé Preto Indigenous Lands, which has already been closed and the vegetation has been restored”.
According to management, with regard to the streams, an inspection was carried out in 2025 and “it was found that there is no obstruction in the streams, with watercourse passages draining normally”.
The report also sought out the current management of Porto Walter. Donicélio Nunes, secretary of Administration for the municipality, also reported that there was a design error that led to the work entering indigenous land, but the vegetation has already been restored, and denied that water beds had been compromised due to the work on the road.
