A company owned by the senator (-SP) used FAB (Brazilian Air Force) space at Domingo Aéreo, in São Paulo, two weeks ago, to offer adventure tourism packages, using federal public area to boost private business.
Domingo Aéreo is one of the main activities in the sector in the country. With F-5 fighters, A-29 Super Tucanos and the new F-39 Gripen crossing the sky over the north of the capital since the early hours of that day, 232 thousand people went to Campo de Marte, according to the FAB, to attend the event.
Força said, in a statement, that the invitation to participate in the event was addressed to another entity linked to the senator, the Marcos Pontes Foundation, a private foundation. The senator said that he does not have an administrative role at the company and attributed his participation in the event to his partner.
The stand had a panel with the travel agency’s website, “the only Brazilian company specialized in exclusive tourism”, according to the sign, and photos of tourist flights to space made by private companies.
The space also displayed books by the senator, a retired FAB lieutenant colonel who, in 2005, traveled to the International Space Station on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft and later engaged in commercial activities, such as selling pillows.
“The agency is as follows: businessman Marcos Palhares and senator Marcos Pontes have the Marcos Pontes Agency, which is a space tourism agency, adventure tours. So, for example, if you want to fly a MIG-29 in Russia like him, you can fly”, said a woman in charge of the place, without knowing that she was speaking to the reporter from Sheet.
“There will be a package at the end of the year to see the total eclipse [do sol] in Iceland, and then you see the total eclipse, the aurora borealis and even a volcano there spewing lava”, he said. The employee did not inform the package prices, but sent telephone contact and email from the agency.
Aerial Sunday is held annually at the São Paulo Aeronautical Material Park, and the main attractions are the flybys and choreographed presentations of planes of different models.
The park’s hangars are occupied by different stands linked to the theme. In the space where the Marcos Pontes agency’s stand was located, there were stalls selling souvenirs such as t-shirts and caps, historic planes, such as a Supermarine Spitfire used by Great Britain in the Second World War, and an area for photos with the IRS employees who star in the TV series “Airport – Area Restricted”.
The Constitution, in its article 54, prohibits deputies and senators from maintaining contracts with the public service and, from taking office, from being owners, controllers or directors of a company that enjoys a favor resulting from a contract with a legal entity governed by public law. Furthermore, according to Vitor Rhein Schirato, associate professor at the Department of State Law at USP (University of São Paulo), the FAB should establish transparent criteria and public selection to grant its spaces to private entities.
“It could result in an act of administrative improbity for both the senator and the FAB”, says the professor.
In a statement, the FAB informed that Domingo Aéreo is an event “of a cultural and educational nature, with free entry and aimed at integration between society and aviation”.
“It should be noted that, for the event, several spaces were made available to civil entities, companies and organizations linked to the theme of military and civil aviation, with the aim of promoting aeronautical culture”, the note continues.
“In relation to the question, the FAB clarifies that, as has been the case for several years, the Fundação Astronauta Marcos Pontes was one of the participants in the action”, concludes the note, without further details.
The senator spoke in a note, in which he admits his presence at the event, but says that the participation was “spontaneous”.
“Senator Marcos Pontes does not hold an administrative role at the company and did not participate in the event”, says the text. “The company’s presence at Domingo Aéreo was a spontaneous participation, led by businessman and future space tourist Marcos Palhares, with a focus on inspiring the public and disseminating knowledge about space tourism”, the note continues.
Marcos Palhares is a partner of Marcos Pontes in the company, who in the note also says that he “reaffirms his commitment to transparency, ethics and respect for institutions”.
