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From time to time, Brasília produces rumors that say much less about who is mentioned and much more about the political environment of the moment. The most recent involves Jorge Viana, now president of ApexBrasil, and an alleged plan to give up his candidacy for the Senate and take over the Ministry of Finance in place of Fernando Haddad, who could run in the elections.
Jorge Viana, president of Apex/Photo: Giovanni Amaral/Orna Audiovisual
Jorge himself treated the subject with irony when he called the story, during a conversation with journalist Everton Damasceno, from ContilNet, a “joke from the old year (2025)”. And, in fact, looking through a magnifying glass, the speculation is not sustainable from a political point of view.
Jorge appears today in second or third place in the Senate polls in Acre. In a scenario in which every seat counts, giving up a dispute with real chances to assume a ministry would be a difficult decision to explain. Even more so when Planalto’s speech goes in the opposite direction.
President Lula has been clear in stating that the PT’s priority is to elect more parliamentarians, especially to Congress and the Senate. It’s not rhetoric. The government has faced significant resistance in these houses in recent years and knows that governing without a solid base there is costly.
In this context, Jorge is a strategic asset. Not just because of its political history, but because of the electoral viability demonstrated so far. Removing someone with this profile from the race would mean giving up a concrete chance of expanding the progressive base in the Senate, precisely where the government is experiencing the most difficulties.
There are those who argue that everything would change if the request came directly from Lula, with whom Jorge has an old and close relationship. And truth. But so far, nothing indicates that the president is willing to exchange a potential senator for a minister, especially at a time when electoral logic weighs more than rearrangements on the Esplanada.
In the end, the rumor seems to fulfill another role: testing scenarios, measuring reactions and, perhaps, moving the political debate in Acre and Brasília. Jorge, for now, remains where he is and, it seems, is also still in the electoral game. The rest is noise.
Does not hold up
With two seats up for grabs in the Senate, a possible withdrawal by Jorge Viana would mean, in practice, handing the game over on a platter to Gladson Cameli and Márcio Bittar, who are leading the latest polls.
The two are not from the left and, if elected, the tendency will be to oppose the Lula government in the Senate. In other words, from a political and strategic point of view, the rumor simply does not hold water.
There is yet another central point. Without Jorge in the race, there is currently no name from the progressive field in Acre with a real chance of winning the Senate. Removing him from the scenario would be giving up the only concrete possibility of electing a Planalto ally in the state.
Left PT
The name of Virgílio Viana, son of former governor Tião Viana, is beginning to circulate as a candidate for federal deputy in this year’s elections. The information, however, is accompanied by a detail that caught attention in political circles.
Virgílio should run for office for PV, and not for PT, the party that his father and uncle helped to consolidate and which commanded Acre for around two decades.
The party choice did not exactly go down well with sectors of local PT, who see the movement as a clear sign of political distance. Ultimately, the decision suggests that, at least for the next generation, PTism will not necessarily be born.
Waiting sitting
Alan Rick and Mailza Assis are still, until now, waiting for a definition from the MDB on who the party will support in the dispute for the government of Acre this year.
The internal signal was that the MDB would make its support official at the end of 2025. The calendar turned, the year began, and the decision remains out of print.
Meanwhile, the pre-candidates sit and wait for a movement that should have already happened. The party’s silence begins to take its toll and fuels the perception of uncertainty in a game that, for other camps, is already underway.
Point for Pedro Pascoal
A Civil Police operation revealed a drug diversion scheme in Fundhacre, with an estimated loss of more than R$1 million to public coffers.
What deserves recording is the origin of the investigation. The investigations began following a complaint received by the Secretary of Health himself, Pedro Pascoal, who called the police and asked for the investigation to be opened.
In times of widespread distrust, the secretary’s stance goes in the opposite direction, transparency, responsibility and willingness to face irregularities, even when this exposes problems within the structure itself. It is an attitude that strengthens public management and signals that complaints will not be swept under the carpet.
An alternative
The start of toll collection on BR-364, in Rondônia, raises an alert that demands an immediate reaction from the federal bench in Acre.
Forecasts indicate a direct impact on the price of products arriving in the state, an increase that tends to be felt mainly by the end consumer. Acre depends almost entirely on BR-364 for supply, which makes any increase in transportation costs an economic and social problem.
It is up to federal deputies and state senators to act firmly to defend Acre’s interests, whether by demanding compensatory measures or by seeking alternatives that prevent the bill from falling, once again, on the population.
