Paulo Nogueira, ideal for the Farm

After the political and economic tragedy orchestrated by the neoliberal Fernando Haddad, Lula could rebuild a progressive base in Congress by confronting the right, the far right, and the ambiguous center in one fell swoop. To do this, he would simply need to appoint the upright economist Paulo Nogueira Batista Jr., the most experienced and reputable Brazilian economist abroad, to the Finance Ministry. The Faria Lima financial district wouldn't like it. However, in an election year, it's the people who have to like it or not, not the São Paulo oligarchy.

It's clear that Faria Lima, with the help of the far-right abroad, will pour billions of reais into buying the election. Many big tech companies have already declared their support for Bolsonaro. Furthermore, there's the Donald Trump factor, who will certainly interfere in this year's election. All of this indicates a scenario of great difficulty for progressives to achieve their coveted majority in Congress and elect the president, whether it's Lula or someone he nominates. 

The appointment of Paulo Nogueira to the Finance Ministry, a presidential prerogative, would signal a 180-degree turn in economic policy. I know that this turnaround cannot be made while maintaining the regressive majority in Congress, but its mere announcement as a campaign platform by the President, reinforced by the Minister's appointment, could raise the spirits and hopes of the population regarding the improvement of their living conditions and, in the current Latin American scenario, the affirmation of national developmentalist policies attacked by Trump, except when it comes to the interests of the United States itself. 

Most importantly, however, Paulo Nogueira's appointment to the Ministry of Finance would have stirred up a veritable political whirlwind in the country, pitting dominant classes against dominated classes, with this unprecedented debate spilling over to the most disadvantaged segments of the population. Whether they liked it or not, the rich and the very rich would have had to justify their shameful privileges to the people, starting with their role in transforming the State into an instrument for expropriating the poor by the fortunate, through public debt, which transfers R$ 1 trillion a year in interest alone to its holders, while the Welfare State is crushed! 

A frank debate would lead us to a kind of pedagogy of reality, which would compensate for the relative material weakness of progressives in the face of the billionaires who exploit the people. It would be very easy for a progressive presidential candidate, whether Lula or someone nominated by him, to expose the collusion between Faria Lima (the financial district of São Paulo) and corrupt parliamentarians involved with drug traffickers and militias, manipulators of amendments, which are being unmasked by the Supreme Federal Court through the courageous rulings of Minister Flávio Dino. 

In this context, the word of the Finance Minister carries a lot of weight. Especially if it is someone like Paulo Nogueira, former Brazilian representative to the IMF and BRICS – high positions he held without leaving any trace of personal favoritism. Nor has he allowed himself to be contaminated by neoliberal ideology, like Fernando Haddad. With a gentle and polite manner, like his father – Ambassador Paulo Nogueira Batista – the son keeps the banner of national developmentalism flying high, a banner supported only by a few, such as the former governor of Paraná and former senator Roberto Requião. 

It is important to remember that Paulo Nogueira Batista Sr., during the Geisel administration, negotiated an agreement with Germany for the development of a nuclear project in Brazil. Unfortunately, due to the crisis of the late 1970s, we abandoned the program, which was subsequently buried for good by the 1988 Constitution. If this setback had not occurred, perhaps we would have built the bomb in Brazil and today we would not depend on global nuclear partners, such as Russia and China, to defend ourselves from the voracious appetite of crazy leaders like Donald Trump, who threatens our sovereignty with atomic weapons. 

Returning to the issue of the Treasury, I am certain that Paulo Nogueira, as he has highlighted in several of his articles, radically disagrees with the monetary and fiscal policies adopted by Haddad and the president of the Central Bank. This is an important preliminary step towards a political shift, since nobody in Brazil with even a basic understanding of economics agrees with the Selic rate at 15%. Those who are more informed, and Paulo Nogueira is one of them, also know that the policy of fiscal balance and the absurdity of the fiscal surplus are contractionary and would rely on the country's growth. 

However, the debate on these issues is systematically removed from the agenda by the conservative media, which, in the name of economic oligarchies, assumes a regressive and active role in covering up reality. That is why the appointment of someone like Paulo Nogueira Batista to the Finance Ministry has a much greater significance for the country than technical issues related to the Ministry's practical actions: the problem is essentially political and one of communication, and lies within the limits of the economic power game in society.