Brazil’s Chamber President and Economy Minister Fall Out over Aid Package to States

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The vote last week on the government’s emergency aid bill for states and municipalities severed the relationship between Chamber President Rodrigo Maia and Minister of Economy Paulo Guedes. The two have had no further interaction, as President Jair Bolsonaro himself disclosed in an interview after the dismissal of Luiz Henrique Mandetta from his position as Minister of Health.

Guedes is convinced that Maia is working to “explode” the Bolsonaro government’s finances and hinder the country’s economic rebound, by coordinating with the President’s two main opponents: Governors João Doria of São Paulo and Wilson Witzel of Rio de Janeiro.

In recent weeks, Guedes has reiterated that the government will not finance what he considers an “election spree” disguised as a fight against Covid-19.

The Minister concurs with the President, who, in an interview with CNN, accused Maia of attempting to deliver a political blow to his government by turning the governors against Bolsonaro and posing as “Prime Minister”.

Maia, on the other hand, complains that Guedes’ team has used “fake” figures to obstruct a much-needed aid plan for governors and mayors.

In one of the last messages exchanged with Maia, the Minister sent a text message on his cell phone along with an article by economists Marcos Lisboa and Marcos Mendes alerting to the potential issues that the proposed aid to states could cause. The reply from the other end: “Everything is fine. I will approve it”.

Guedes said there was no agreement. “I won’t go any further,” said the Minister of Economy, who has been describing the Chamber’s bill as ” the overall collapse of the Republic”. Despite the government’s backroom lobbying, there was no agreement in the Senate to vote this week, particularly after 25 out of 27 state governors urged senators to pass the bill in a letter.

Source: Epoca