After the meeting, the governor of Minas said that the Minister of Finance, Fernando Haddad, promised to present a proposal for the fiscal consolidation of the states by the end of March
BRASÍLIA – The governor of Minas Gerais, Romeo Zema (New), his political opponent, the president, said on Wednesday the 6th Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, is a Democrat. The governor spoke to journalists in the Palácio do Planalto after a meeting with the president and ministers about Minas Gerais’ debt to the Union and the compensation he is to receive for the 2015 Marianna tragedy.
In the same interview Zema stated that the Minister of Finance, Fernando Haddad, promised to present a proposal for the fiscal recovery of the states by the end of March. In addition to the three, ministers Rui Costa (Civil Home), Fernando Haddad (Finance), Alexandre Padilha (Institutional Relations) and Alexandre Silveira (Mines and Energy) also participated in the meeting. Recently, the governors of the South and South-East have complained about the dialogue with Haddad to discuss the debt and Zema, in an interview with the Estadão, reinforced the difficulties.
Zema and Lula are political opponents and have never had a closed-door meeting before. The governor classified the effort as “very productive.” He explained that they discussed the debt of Minas Gerais with the Union, which amounts to R$ 160 billion, and the compensation due to the collapse of the Mariana dam, in 2015. According to him, a position is still missing from the company owner of the project that caused Samarco to fail.
Romeu Zema stated that the solution to the states’ debt must be definitive. According to him, the Ministry of Finance will evaluate whether the federalization of state-owned enterprises in Minas Gerais, such as Cemig, is a good solution to reduce debt. The governor said that if necessary, he would not oppose the idea.
The idea of federalizing state enterprises arose from Lula’s conversations with the president of the Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG). The senator, who plans to run for the government of Minas Gerais in 2026, has taken the lead in the debt discussion in recent months. Zema had until now remained out of the conversations.
The governor of Minas Gerais also said he had heard from Fernando Haddad that the Treasury will ask the Federal Supreme Court for more time for the state to resume debt payments if necessary. If nothing changes, MG will have to pay the installments again on April 20.
Wallflower after the delay
Before today’s meeting, Lula made Zema wait about an hour to start a meeting at the Palácio do Planalto. The meeting was scheduled for 5pm, but Zema arrived at Planalto at 5.20pm. The press office of the Palácio do Planalto announced the start of the meeting at 6.20 pm.
Source: Terra
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