PT manages to block ambassadors appointed by Bolsonaro to Argentina, Italy and Vatican

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Allies of president-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) reached an agreement with the leadership of the Senate to bar nominations by Jair Bolsonaro (PL) to Brazilian embassies in Argentina, Italy and the Vatican. The three are considered key posts for the foreign relations area of ​​the future government.

The diplomats appointed by the current president to these posts did not even enter the agenda of the CRE (Commission on Foreign Relations and National Defense) of the Senate this Tuesday (22nd), when the collegiate approved, on Saturday, the nominees for the representations in Tunisia, in Mauritania, Equatorial Guinea, Sudan and Jordan.

The movement had the support of the presidents of the House, Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG), and of the CRE, Esperidião Amin (PP-SC). The assessment is that the definition of strategic positions for the country is no longer up to Bolsonaro, defeated in the elections, whose term ends with Lula’s inauguration, on January 1st.

Amin stated that the issue was also discussed with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Carlos França. “What is being approved is the result of the success of an agreement between people with the same background, the same information and involving State careers”, he said. “It’s important that we decide [a situação de outros postos] because there are cases where we have a vacant embassy. It would be an act of disregard for the country.”

Six Bolsonaro nominees for other posts will be reviewed by the commission this Wednesday (23).

During the vote in plenary this Tuesday, Pacheco thanked the head of Itamaraty for his collaboration. “My acknowledgment to your excellency [Amin] and to Chancellor Carlos França for his contribution to the holding of these hearings and appreciation in the Senate plenary.”

The representation in Buenos Aires is a post with direct dialogue with one of Lula’s main regional allies, the Peronist Alberto Fernández —who visited the president-elect in São Paulo the day after the PT’s victory. Bolsonaro had appointed diplomat Hélio Vitor Ramos to the post, who was an international advisor to former mayor Rodrigo Maia (PSDB-RJ).

France’s current chief of staff, Achilles Zaluar, was appointed to the Vatican embassy. The designation should not be analyzed by the Senate because the PT wants the nomination due to the party’s identification with Pope Francis and his agenda for reforming the Catholic Church.

Italy, in turn, is considered one of the most prestigious positions among Brazilian embassies abroad. The position gained greater importance for Lula’s allies after the election of an ultra-right government in the European country, led by Giorgia Meloni. Bolsonaro had nominated Fernando Simas Magalhães, the current secretary general of the Itamaraty, for the vacancy.

The changes in plans for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with the arrival of Lula to the Presidency are even broader than the nominations not analyzed this Tuesday.

The current government even sent other designations that were not even read by Pacheco – which prevents them from being processed in the Senate. This is the case of the mission in Paris, whose nominee was the diplomat Paulino Franco de Carvalho. France —governed by Emmanuel Macron, who received the PT last year and accumulated friction with Bolsonaro— should play the role of Lula’s privileged interlocutor in Europe, which is why the transition team wants to define who will occupy the embassy.

The same goes for Brazil’s representation at the WTO (World Trade Organization). The current management’s plans were for the vacancy to be occupied by the current Secretary of Foreign Trade and Economic Affairs of the Itamaraty, Sarquis José Buainain Sarquis —the nomination, however, may be revised by the transition.

In this way, the names analyzed this Tuesday were for posts considered to be of lesser sensitivity.

The name of diplomat Márcio Fagundes do Nascimento was approved for the Jordanian embassy, ​​that of Rubem Guimarães Coan Fabro Amaral for the mission in Sudan, and that of Evaldo Freire for Mauritania. Fernando José Marroni de Abreu, on the other hand, received the approval of the senators for the representation in Tunisia and Leonardo Carvalho Monteiro, in Equatorial Guinea.

The Senate also endorsed the country’s permanent delegates to Unesco (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) and FAO (United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization) —respectively, diplomats Paula Alves de Souza and Carla Barroso Ram.

Voting for all positions was unanimous in the Committee on Foreign Relations. On the agenda of the collegiate this Wednesday are the sabbaths of Bolsonaro’s nominees for the Brazilian embassies in Vietnam, Guatemala, South Africa, Costa Rica, Lebanon and Tanzania.

The movement to try to stop the analysis of nominations by the current government took place in other areas, not only in diplomacy. Lula’s allies and members of the Judiciary also tried to postpone hearings by judges appointed by the president for two vacancies at the STJ (Superior Court of Justice), Messod Azulay Neto and Paulo Sérgio Domingues.

There was an expectation on the part of Ney Bello’s allies, from the TRF-1 (Federal Regional Court of the 1st Region), which appeared on the fourfold list of the STJ, that Lula could review the nominations and point out the name of the magistrate. The final assessment, however, was that the movement would create discomfort with Bolsonaro’s base in the Senate, at a time when the elected government is trying to approve the PEC (proposed amendment to the Constitution) of the Transition to pay the Bolsa Family in 2023.

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