The candidate for vice-president on the ticket of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), Geraldo Alckmin (PSB), said this Thursday (25) that the devastation of the Amazon is today the greatest danger to agribusiness and that it was the government of the PT that boosted the sector.
“The government of President Lula was the one who boosted agribusiness. Interest rates were 2.5%, today it is 15%. Agricultural credit, rural insurance, market conquest. Today the greatest danger of agribusiness is the devastation of the Amazon”, affirmed Alckmin .
For the former governor of São Paulo, environmental destruction threatens Brazilian agribusiness exports. “There may be an obstacle in the sale of agro to the world, and Brazil is a granary for the world, due to environmental issues. It is unbelievable that you have devastation.
The former governor said that today Brazil is very dependent on China. “We need to conquer new markets. If there is a Mercosur-European Union agreement, there will be a leap in markets”.
Alckmin says that there is a logistical agenda under discussion on the plate, which foresees the integration of railways, highways, waterways and also ports. The former governor also said that he seeks to attract the sector with dialogue and conversation.
With the speech, Alckmin tries to win back the support of agribusiness – today a segment seen largely as part of the base of rival Jair Bolsonaro (PL).
The PT has tried to get closer to the sector with the support mainly of parliamentarians from Mato Grosso and the Maggi family — including Blairo Maggi, one of Brazil’s biggest soy producers, political chief of Mato Grosso (now in the PP) and former minister of Agriculture of the Michel Temer government (MDB).
As shown by SheetBolsonaro allies, in turn, have been trying to consolidate the sector’s support for the current president using an excerpt from Lula’s government plan.
In a document with government guidelines, Lula included a proposal to regulate agricultural production. The PT campaign, however, says that it was a failure and that the passage will be deleted.
Alckmin also defended this Thursday the creation of a specific secretariat in the Ministry of Health to deal with investments in Santas Casas and philanthropic institutions. These entities are in debt, which makes the ex-governor’s phrase a nod to the sector.
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