The crisis in Maranhão and the political actions of the PIG (Partido da Imprensa Golpista - Party of the Coup-

So, this means that the barons who control the media in Brazil have suddenly become champions of the rights of Brazilian prisoners, who suffer in the hellish branches that are our penitentiaries. This is what can be deduced from the obsession with which the major newspapers, radio and TV stations, and magazines linked to the mainstream media have been treating the public security crisis in Maranhão, which has become the main journalistic topic in this sweltering tropical summer. Not that the issue is of minor importance. Not that organized crime does not represent a threat to Maranhão society. Not that the scenes of prisoners being beheaded and buses being set on fire with fatalities don't deserve the strongest condemnation from decent people and strong, coordinated action from all three branches of government. But since when has the wretched life of those serving prison sentences in Brazil deserved so much attention from the Brazilian media monopoly, to the point that all media outlets send reporters to São Luís to exclusively cover the crisis, giving it absolute priority in terms of airtime and space on television and in newspapers?

Any thinking person has no doubt about the Sarney clan's responsibility for the state having one of the worst human development indexes in the country, although it has improved somewhat in the last decade. What I intend to denounce here is the political selectivity of the press, also regarding violence. I ask: is it only in Maranhão that organized crime calls the shots in prisons? Why, on the many occasions when the PCC terrorized São Paulo, for example, were the PSDB governments not harshly criticized and held accountable as Roseana Sarney has been?

Even a fool capable of letting a turtle stray from his care knows that the media cannons fire with such intensity against Maranhão for a single reason: to attack the federal government because of its alliance, in the name of governability, with the Sarney family.

Far be it from me to defend the Sarney family's work in Maranhão. They deserve a large part of the accusations of corruption, patrimonialism, cronyism, favoritism, and social insensitivity in the management of public affairs. However, notice important subtleties in the mainstream media's coverage of violence. Whether it's in São Paulo, Rio (where the governors, although allied with the federal government, have excellent relations with the media), or Minas Gerais, the main focus is on the savagery and sadism of the criminals, the firepower of the factions, how they organize themselves inside and outside prisons, etc.

But when, as in the case of Maranhão, the mainstream media sees an opportunity to undermine the federal government, all that is discussed is the incompetence of the state's public security sector, low public investment, corruption within the police force, and the federal government's negligence. It's a blatant double standard. After all, in the land of Alckmin's darling, the PCCs (First Command of the Capital, a Brazilian criminal organization) do infinitely more damage to the prison system than in any other state in the federation.