Ricardo Nunes and Tarcísio de Freitas have a meeting with minister Alexandre Silveira this Tuesday (16)
The newest blackout in , after the storm that hit the capital and other cities in the metropolitan region last week, reignited yet another clash between the federal government and state and municipal management. After, last Friday (12), the mayor of São Paulo, , and the governor of the State, , spoke personally with the president asking for help in the case of , the concessionaire that manages electricity in 24 municipalities in the State, including the capital, Nunes and Tarcísio have a meeting this Tuesday (16) with the Minister of Mines and Energy, .
In recent weeks, disagreements over the company have once again escalated the dispute between the powers: Alexandre Silveira even said that there would be no politicization involving the renewal of the contract. “Let the mayor [se] want to cry, the governor of São Paulo [se] If you want to cry, that’s okay. If it’s right, they’ll renew it. If it’s wrong, show that it’s wrong, issue an order, have the courage to do it, bury it and it’s over”, he said. Then, last week, the Ministry of Mines and Energy released a note criticizing what it called the “political use” of the issue and “politicization” by Nunes and Tarcísio.
The mayor and governor of São Paulo countered and reinforced the statements against the head of the department. “Minister, the population is the one crying. While you are mocking, the population cries, the population suffers. It is unacceptable that for years now this company here in the city of São Paulo and in the other 23 municipalities has caused millions of people to suffer so much”, declared Nunes.
Public safety
Throughout the year, political differences and disputes between the federal government and the government of São Paulo marked the public debate. The two spheres disagreed, for example, in several areas of public security. The most recent about the so-called Antifaction PL, sent by the federal government to the National Congress with a report from the now former Secretary of Public Security of São Paulo, . Rapporteur of the text in the Chamber, Derrite made several changes to the project, criticized by the national management – including one that gave lesser powers to the Federal Police.
Afterwards, the possible relationship or not of the Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC) with cases of methanol contamination in drinks culminated in yet another inconsistent stance in relation to criminal organizations. At the height of the crisis, two press conferences, almost simultaneously, were called by governments – with different results and speeches. In addition to the methanol episode, there was an estrangement between the Federal Police, the Ministry of Justice and the Public Security Secretariat of São Paulo, when Derrite thanked, but did not need help from the Federal Police to investigate the murder of former police chief Ruy Ferraz Fontes.
At the end of August, another case with a similar theme: the faction was the target of several simultaneous operations against money laundering at gas stations. On that occasion, the PF and São Paulo security forces also organized press conferences at the same time. While Tarcísio stated that he had been denouncing the case for over a year, the Minister of Justice, Ricardo Lewandowski, said that it was “one of the biggest operations in Brazilian history.”
Other cases
Still this year, at least two other discussions gained strength between administrations: the case of Favela do Moinho, in the center of the capital, and the tariff imposed by the president of , .
In the first, after the Union ceded the community’s land to state management for the creation of a park, the political escalation began after complaints that families were being forcibly removed from the site. The reports motivated, first, and then, Lula’s agenda there. On that occasion, the president formalized a housing solution for the location. Tarcísio did not participate in the event and, in recent speeches, he said more than once that, until now, what was said by the federal government has not been put into practice – and that the State Housing Department has been working alone.
Regarding the tariffs imposed by Donald Trump, the governor of São Paulo was heavily criticized by name by Lula’s allies for celebrating the American president’s victory for the new term. They even exchanged barbs on social media – in the case of the Minister of Finance, Fernando Haddad, and the Minister of Institutional Relations, Gleisi Hoffmann. Later, on the same day that the Vice President of the Republic, Geraldo Alckmin, scheduled a meeting with affected sectors to talk about the issue, Tarcísio did the same at Palácio dos Bandeirantes, in a meeting, also, with representatives of the US Embassy in São Paulo.
*This text does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Jovem Pan.
