Talking about a split at Fiesp is ‘crazy’, says Ciesp president

The president of Ciesp (Center for Industries of the State of São Paulo), Rafael Cervone, says that there was no time to discuss the manifesto of Fiesp (federation of industries in São Paulo, to which the center is linked) in favor of democracy and the democratic State of right.

According to him, this was one of the reasons that led the entity not to sign the text that became known as the “businessmen’s letter” in reaction to the growing attacks by President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) against the electoral process.

The objection to the signing of the document was not, says the executive, a rejection of its content, but a sign of moving away from the polarization that ended up contaminating the moment. Cervone states that he also understood that there was a risk in not speaking up, since this could be understood as a rift at Fiesp, something he classifies as “these madnesses”.

In the days leading up to the finalization of the manifest, Cervone was out of Brazil, on vacation, “on a ship, in another time zone”, he says.

“It was a question, first, of time. When I returned [ao Brasil] a week had passed and the business took on other dimensions. [Pensamos] ‘No, entities have to be neutral’. It became a very polarized business, so it was better not to talk.”

Taking a stand at that moment could be seen as “putting on more fire” in a period of already heightened tensions.

Cervone, who is also Fiesp’s first vice-president, argues that the decisions taken by the federation are faster than those discussed at Ciesp. “There are 125 unions. You meet this afternoon, as happens every 15 days. You take a meeting, everyone is there and decides on the spot”.

Fiesp is chaired by Josué Gomes, who is also Ciesp’s first vice-president.

At the heart of industries, says Cervone, decisions pass through more than 8,000 companies. Meetings are monthly. The timing of the discussion of the manifesto found another favorable point: entrepreneurs do not schedule meetings at just two times of the year, which are the months of January and July, due to the vacation periods, when many travel.

“In July, there was no monthly Ciesp meeting. So, an extraordinary meeting would have to be held, but to do that, they had to talk as the base first. Then this gap [o intervalo de tempo desde o inícios das discussões] it was deadly.”

The president of Ciesp says that it was important for the associates to maintain a certain neutrality at that time. “Everyone understood the importance of talking about democracy and the rule of law, but at that moment, it was no longer discussed. At that moment it was ‘but then this is Bolsonaro and this is Lula’. conversation could not enter.”

The letter from the pro-democracy organizations was published on August 5th, a few days before an act at the USP Law School (University of São Paulo), on August 11th. At the time, the businessmen’s manifesto was one of two read that morning; the other, signed by more than 1 million people, was prepared by jurists for almost a year.

Despite the absence of businessmen at the bottom of the letter, Cervone defends that the election process is democratic and that “he who won the election, won the election”.

“And we’re going to sit with whoever wins, as we’re already talking to both sides,” he says.

Fiesp and Ciesp organized, in August, meetings with candidates for the government of São Paulo, and for the Presidency of the Republic. Vinícius Poit (Novo), Fernando Haddad (PT), Rodrigo Garcia and Tarcísio de Freitas (Republicans), candidates for state government, participated in these meetings.

With the presidential candidates, candidates Lula (PT), Simone Tebet (MDB), Felipe D’Ávila (Novo) and Ciro Gomes (PDT) were at the entities’ headquarters.