Analysis: Lula and Bolsonaro are very different in terms of fake news

It is not possible to adopt false equivalences. Bolsonaro and Lula are very different, especially in terms of fake news, as demonstrated in the debate that started the presidential meetings in this second round, promoted by Sheet, UOL, TV Band and TV Cultura, this Sunday (16). Lying was once called the great art of politics, but Bolsonaro distributed obvious fake news.

We are not going to talk about the lies about his exemplary management of the pandemic or about saying that Lula was surrounded by drug dealers on his visit to the Salgueiro community in Rio, nor does he insist on having nothing to do with the institutionalization of the secret budget.

Bolsonaro once again praised the reduction of fuels, as well as its beneficial effects on inflation. Everyone knows that the fall has zero relation to any admirable management. The government took stabs to reduce the price at the pumps, combining the game with the center in Congress. State-owned Petrobras is holding the readjustments.

report of Sheet signed by reporter Nicola Pamplona showed, at the beginning of last week, that the average price of gasoline in Brazilian refineries was 10% below the import parity, a concept that simulates how much it would cost to import the fuel.

The consumer cannot be deceived. What is happening is price damming. The president doesn’t say, but it will be necessary to readjust, and the bill will be more salty.

Bolsonaro also decided to trumpet his deeds in favor of the northeast, using just the transposition of the São Francisco River, a lulist work par excellence.

The transposition of the São Francisco River has two axes: east and north. President Michel Temer (MDB) inaugurated the east axis in 2017, in Paraíba, under shouts of “Out, Temer”. It was necessary to put up fences to keep the local population away, who attribute the merit of the work to Lula.

At that time, 94.52% of the original project for the north axis had already been completed. This means that the work on the northern axis stalled in the Temer government and dragged on through the Bolsonaro government, which was inaugurating the final stretches by dropper, already with an eye on the votes it could get in the Northeast.

Bolsonaro also did not respond to vital issues. He did not explain where he will get the money to maintain the Auxílio Brasil of R$ 600, an amount that he improvised in the middle of the electoral campaign in an attempt to get votes in low-income groups. He took the opportunity to advertise that he excels in fiscal responsibility, after breaking the ceiling four times and destroying the credibility of the fiscal rule.

It’s a fact. Lula still has a lot to explain, about the past and the future. The PT held off the release of the final text of its government program. There are people on the broad front who are disgusted with this tactic of holding back the disclosure of proposals. Many of those made public are anachronistic. It would be naive to imagine that there will be no review up front.

Example. Lula once again defended the resumption of Petrobras’ fuel refining to prevent Brazil from continuing to depend on the import of oil derivatives and international prices.

The concern is old, but the solution to this problem has a more complex future. The sector is a strong emitter of greenhouse gases. The fuels and products associated with the sector will be different in the coming decades, perhaps in a few years.

Lula also stresses that he intends to implement an environmental agenda. This means placing Brazil within the energy transition and restricting activities that increase the emission of greenhouse gases. The question will come at some point, but does Brazil need to invest billions of reais in refining a substance that, in theory, has its days numbered?

This and other contradictions denote a recurring problem in many of the PT’s proposals: the insistence on keeping an eye on the rear-view mirror, when it could adopt innovative practices.

However, during the debate, Lula maintained consistency in defending what he believes. We may disagree, but there he was defending his views. He wants a readjustment of the minimum wage above inflation, even if it could cause distortions to labor productivity, as some economists say. It wants to encourage national industry, whether or not it is an efficient practice for the economy.

In the case of Auxílio Brasil, it maintained the proposal to tax the richest, adopting the taxation of profits and dividends. It’s going to be easy? Not. Can it go wrong? Yup. But Lula is not lying when she said that she will try all these alternatives.