‘The president of Caixa was removed, is that answered?’, says Bolsonaro about harassment

President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) spoke for the first time about the case of former Caixa Econômica president Pedro Guimarães and the allegations of sexual harassment by female employees. Bolsonaro limited himself to saying that the executive was removed, but later corrected and said that Guimarães was the one who asked for the removal.

“The president of Caixa was removed, is that answered? Or rather, he asked for leave, okay?”, he said in a conversation with supporters.

Vice-President Hamilton Mourão had already criticized former Caixa Econômica president Pedro Guimarães. Mourão said that people need to know what the limits are, especially bosses.

​”Pedro’s work was very good, Caixa has advanced a lot in these years. But unfortunately in this moral part he failed and failed badly”, he told reporters on Friday (1st).

Guimarães resigned after being accused of sexual harassment by female employees. His departure from the government was confirmed in an open letter published on his social media.

In place of Guimarães, enters Daniella Marques, right-hand man of Paulo Guedes (Economy) and current secretary of Productivity and Competitiveness of the portfolio. The exchange was made official in the Official Gazette earlier this Wednesday night.

The now ex-president of Caixa even participated in a bank event in the morning about the Safra Plan. His presence displeased members of the government, who sought to reduce friction with the accusations. Caixa did not comment on the case.

An investigation into the charges is being processed by the Attorney General’s Office in the Federal District. The case was revealed by the website Metrópoles on Tuesday (28). That same night, Guimarães went to Palácio da Alvorada, the president’s residence, to have a conversation with Bolsonaro.

The charges include unwanted touching and inappropriate invitations, among other harassment. THE Sheetan employee reported being pulled by the neck and being in shock after the episode.

According to her, the harassment of Pedro Guimarães happened in front of everyone, inside and outside the institution.

The episode is especially delicate for the government, because it takes place amidst the chief executive’s attempt to improve his image with the female public, a slice of the electorate in which he registers one of the worst rates of voter intention.

Government officials speak of sexual and moral harassment. Audio recorded during meetings at Caixa Econômica Federal show Guimarães cursing employees and threatening to fire them if they did not follow his orders.

The recordings were revealed this Thursday (30) by the Metrópoles portal, one day after Guimarães left the presidency of Caixa.