Bahia is one entity, it cannot be divided.

Elieser Cesar_Bahia 247 - Dubbed the state's new agricultural frontier, the western region of Bahia has 14 municipalities within its Identity Territory, 1,2 million inhabitants, 4,11% of the goods produced on Bahian soil – something around R$ 121,5 billion according to the 2008 GDP – 1 million hectares of soybeans, 350 of cotton, 200 of corn, two fruit-growing centers, a powerful agro-industry, 1 km of the São Francisco River, and a political representative whose ambition is greater than all this wealth combined: federal deputy Oziel Oliveira (PDT-BA), former mayor of Luís Eduardo Magalhães, formerly Mimoso do Oeste, and husband of the mayor of Barreiras, former federal deputy Jusmari de Oliveira.

Oziel is the author of a project that has been causing much controversy in Bahia's political and business circles: dividing Bahia to create the State of São Francisco. The new state would be composed of 31 municipalities, including Barreiras, Luís Eduardo Magalhães, São Desidério, Formosa do Rio Preto, Santa Maria da Vitória, Correntina, Barra, Serra do Ramalho, and Carinhanha, divided into three regions: Western Bahia, Corrente River Basin, and Velho Chico. It would be practically like Portugal and Austria combined.

This is not a new initiative. In fact, the ambitious Oziel, who aims for a future candidacy for governor (referring to his wife, Jusmari) in the wake of the territorial division, revived an old project, taking advantage of the discussion in the National Congress of the proposal to create 11 new states, including Carajás and Tapajós, separated from Pará. Originally authored by Congressman Xavier de Oliveira (could he be a relative?), the old initiative dates back to 1946 and proposed the creation of the State of São Francisco, with its capital in Barreiras, whose name would be changed to Barão de Cotegipe, in homage to the statesman from the end of the Empire, who carved up territories with the same festive ease as someone cutting a birthday cake.

If created as desired, the new state will have an area of ​​173 square kilometers and an estimated GDP of R$ 10 billion. In defense of the separation, Representative Oziel Oliveira cites numbers and anchors his argument in what he considers the isolation of western Bahia: "We are 1,2 million inhabitants, more than the population of Uruguay, we are an average of 1 km from the capital of Bahia and we face serious infrastructure problems." According to Oliveira, the creation of the new state, supported by a plebiscite, "is a clamor from the entire region."

The State of São Francisco would bring together disparate municipalities. For example, Barreiras, which has the best Human Development Index (HDI) in the region and the 3rd best in Bahia, and Cotegipe, ranked 340th out of 417 municipalities in Bahia. However, the creation of the state, which would bear the name of the River of National Integration, is not sailing smoothly, as Amerigo Vespucci of the West would have liked, alluding to the river's discoverer around 1501. A study released by the Superintendency of Economic Studies (SEI) of the Bahia Planning Secretariat shows that, if created today, the new state would be born with a deficit exceeding R$ 800 million per year, since the potential revenue would be R$ 1,17 billion for an annual cost of R$ 2 billion. The same survey indicated that just four municipalities – Barreiras, São Desidério, Luís Eduardo Magalhães, and Correntina – would account for 83,6% of the new state's GDP, leaving the remaining municipalities destitute, which would exacerbate the already glaring social inequalities.

The stork-like congressman turns a deaf ear and argues that future development will compensate for the administrative costs of creating a new state. The entire political class of Bahia has already positioned itself against what it considers political adventurism. The reaction has united political adversaries in Bahia, such as Governor Jaques Wagner and the Vice-President of Corporate Banking at Caixa Econômica Federal, Geddel Vieira Lima.

"Bahia cannot be divided. Creating a new state would create expenses, not revenue," Wagner dismissed. "Bahia is one, indivisible, different and unique. No one will separate the people of Bahia," echoed Geddel. The president of the Legislative Assembly, Marcelo Nilo, said he was "highly against the division of Bahia," noting that the state of Castro Alves, Octávio Mangabeira, and Jorge Amado cannot be divided. "We are all brothers and we must fight for the well-being of all," Nilo told Bahia247.

Still at the Legislative Assembly, the leader of the PCS/PTN bloc, Targino Machado, helped to calm the separatist movement led by Oziel Oliveira. "It's pure demagoguery to win votes. Who will be the candidate for governor and senator in this new state?" asks Machado, before indicating the answer: "They want to cut the cake to feed themselves."

In an effort to integrate the West – long isolated from the other regions of the State – the government of Bahia is betting on the East-West Railway (Fiol) project, which will be built by the Federal Government to connect Ilhéus-BA to Figueirópolis, in the State of Tocantins, cutting across the entire state of Bahia from East to West, at a cost of R$ 4,2 billion for the Bahia section alone.

Not even Sister Dulce wanted Bahia divided.

Even Sister Dulce, who didn't get involved in politics to attend to more transcendent matters, such as religion and charity, was against the division of Bahia. At the end of the 80s, when then-federal deputy Fernando Gomes, nicknamed "Fernando Cuma" – according to Bahian political folklore, so called because he used to say "cuma é isso mesmo?" (roughly translated as "what is that really?") – tried to dismember Bahia, from Vitória da Conquista to the south, to create the State of Santa Cruz, Sister Dulce signed a popular amendment against the division. With 435.252 signatories, the document was delivered by then-governor Waldir Pires to the president of the National Constituent Assembly, deputy Ulysses Guimarães. To block the project, the advertising executive Duda Mendonça created the campaign "Bahia will not be divided," which involved artists and intellectuals such as Maria Bethânia and Jorge Amado. The author of Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon even said: "I was born Bahian and I will die Bahian."

See, Oziel, what a hornet's nest you've stirred up!