The PT candidate for the presidency of the Republic, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, prepares a letter to agribusiness. The wording of the text is in the final phase and should be released in the coming days.
The PT wants to fight what it calls outdated rhetoric in relation to Lula’s risks for agriculture, remembering that his eight years as president of the republic were marked by advances in agribusiness.
On the list of achievements of Lula’s administration that should be highlighted is the regulation of the planting of transgenics, in 2005, putting an end to an irregular market that grew on the fringes of sanitary control.
According to Sheet found, the letter will reinforce the PT’s commitment to guaranteeing institutional security and financing for agriculture.
The proposal is that the agro be an ally in another agenda of the PT campaign, that of rescuing the image of Brazil as a country that grows respecting the environment. This position was challenged by the increase in fires, deforestation, illegal mining and the invasion of indigenous lands during the government of Jair Bolsonaro (PL).
The letter, however, intends to make it clear that the objective is to increase the weight of the agricultural sector in the economy not only with sustainable production, in line with international environmental demands, but also with the increase in exports, “consolidating Brazil as a power globally in the area”.
Among the arguments to convince the sector that the two things go together is the agreement between Mercosur and the European Union, which stalled because of the environmental problems registered in Brazil in the last four years.
The expectation is that the gesture reproduces, in 2022, for voters linked to agriculture, the same positive result obtained by the “Letter to the Brazilian people”, a manifestation made by the same Lula during the 2002 campaign – a commitment that, in case of victory, the PT would respect institutional norms.
At the time, there was great fear that a left-wing government might not respect private contracts or manage public accounts responsibly, for example. The commitment made broke resistance and changed the course of the election in favor of Lula.
The offensive for votes with agribusiness in this second round also includes the participation of Simone Tebet (MDB) in the campaign, considered a new element in the process of choosing, by voters, their candidate for president.
For Lula supporters, Tebet is a new asset, with greater potential than the support of governors announced by Bolsonaro, since they were already aligned with the current president before the second round.
Tebet got almost 5 million votes – just over 4% of the valid votes. It can garner votes from more central progressives in any region of Brazil, but it has a special dialogue with agribusiness. She is a senator for Mato Grosso do Sul, and circulates well among representatives of both agriculture and agribusiness.
Tebet will take the stage with Lula and Alckmin to help stop the Bolsonarista advance in this segment. The PT campaign is organizing the travel schedule for Minas Gerais, Rio Grande do Sul, Pará and the Northeastern states.
The interior of São Paulo is considered a vital and sensitive area. There, Alckmin also has the mission to contain the advance of the Bolsonarista vote.
No trip to Mato Grosso is planned, where there is a lot of hostility.
The dispute for voters in the countryside in this second round is very fierce, with the balance tipping towards Bolsonaro, but the PT believes it has many embarrassed votes in rural areas, which can count in Lula’s favor with a more efficient approach.
Bolsonaro won in states that are reference in agriculture, such as Rio Grande do Sul, Paraná, Mato Grosso do Sul and Mato Grosso. In these areas, the president doesn’t even need to campaign when he targets the agro vote and especially has the support of large producers.
Lula, in turn, took the lead in Minas Gerais, and areas that are part of the so-called new agricultural frontiers, such as Matopiba, which includes Maranhão, Tocantins and Bahia. The PT got support from some large producers, but he has family farmers and workers on his side.
Discover PT’s proposals for agribusiness
- public investment: strengthening of agricultural production through “financing, government purchases and public investment”, with innovations oriented towards ecological and energy transition; creation of an agro-industry with high global competitiveness, with the strengthening of the national production of agricultural inputs, machinery and implements
- food safety: new urban and rural land use occupation model, with agrarian and ecological reform; building sustainable food systems to ensure the population’s access to healthy food; promotion of organic and agroecological production; reduction of production costs and prices of fresh and good quality food
- Family farming: support for small and medium-sized farms and encouragement to expand direct relationships between small producers and consumers around cities
- Science and technology: strengthening of Embrapa (Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation) to ensure technological advances in the field “essential for the competitiveness and sustainability of both small and large producers”.
- Sustainability: advance towards an agriculture committed to environmental and social sustainability, so that Brazil does not lose ground in the international market
- Fighting food inflation: national supply policy that includes the resumption of regulatory stocks and the expansion of financing policies for food production for small farmers and organic agriculture
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