Panel SA: Secretary of Revenue fired by Bolsonaro seeks Moro to discuss approach

Former Federal Revenue Secretary Marcos Cintra says he went to Sergio Moro before New Year’s Eve to talk about a possible joint effort between his União Brasil and the presidential candidacy of the former judge, who is affiliated with Somos.

He claims that he returned with an expectation of rapprochement between Moro’s group and União Brasil, merging the PSL with the DEM, led by federal deputy Luciano Bivar. But he still has reservations about the political dimension of the former judge and says that discussions with other parties for the attempt to build the third way continue.

Cintra, who was fired by Bolsonaro in 2019 because he defended a tax along the lines of the unpopular CPMF, says that União Brasil’s conversation with Moro, for the time being, revolves around guidelines that are still broad.

“We are starting to make Moro available. He has been talking a lot with our president Bivar. And the idea is to get closer. He already has his group, led by Affonso Celso Pastore [conselheiro de Moro na área econômica], then, we have to discuss”, he says.

Cintra, however, says that, for the time being, there is no definitive position and that União Brasil has not yet defined its support for the former judge.

“I think Moro needs to join a big party. Only with Podemos, as much as his image is very good from a personal point of view, he still has a weak exposure politically. He is seen by the voter not as a candidate , but as a personality in the legal world. It needs to transform this asset into an electoral one, something it hasn’t done yet. It needs a big party, and the Union could provide that structure, but you can’t waste a lot of time”, says Cintra.

Within União Brasil, there are still divergent pressures for alternatives that range from an own candidacy to an attempt to become vice president.

with Andressa Motter e Ana Paula Branco