Lula blames Bolsonaro for Cuba and Venezuela’s delays with BNDES

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) said this Monday (6) that the BNDES (National Bank for Economic and Social Development) was the target of “very serious defamation”, with the spread of “crazy lies” in recent years .

In a speech at the inauguration of the bank’s new president, Aloizio Mercadante, Lula also stated that the default of countries that borrowed from the bank, such as Cuba and Venezuela, was encouraged by the Jair Bolsonaro government, which cut off relations with these countries.

“In our government I’m sure they will pay,” he said. Until September 2022, Venezuela, Cuba and Mozambique totaled US$ 1.03 billion (R$ 5.1 billion) in debt arrears with the Brazilian bank.

Lula cited criticism of export financing for Brazilian goods and services among the lies disseminated against the bank in recent years. “The BNDES never gave money to other countries. It financed services provided by Brazilian companies in no less than 15 countries.”

He argued that all contracts have guarantees that preserve the bank in case of default. “And let’s be frank, the countries that haven’t paid, be it Cuba or Venezuela, it’s because the president [Bolsonaro] decided to cut off international relations,” he claimed.

The president has already defended that the bank’s resources go back to financing exports of goods and services. On a visit to Argentina, for example, he cited the Vaca Muerta gas pipeline, an important gas reserve in the neighboring country, as one of the financeable projects.

Lula also refuted the accusations that the BNDES is a black box, which were widespread in the 2018 election campaign.

“The BNDES was never a black box. After hammering this into people’s heads, the BNDES had to spend 40 million on an international audit in 2020. The result, to the disappointment of the slanderers, is that nothing irregular was found”.

The president also defended that the BNDES “was never a drain on the Treasury’s money”, citing that the bank’s biggest source of funds is the FAT (Worker’s Support Fund) and that the bank has been returning high volumes to the Treasury in recent years.

According to Mercadante, since 2015, R$678 billion has already been returned, including payment of the debt principal, interest, early debt settlement and dividends. “It is 54% greater than the transfers that the Treasury made to the bank.”

Lula complained about the use of “these lies” during the electoral process. “Often the media prefers to privilege the lie than try to discover the truth”, she criticized.