'Parente's dismissal is a blow within a coup,' says FUP coordinator.

By Eduardo Maretti, in Current Brazil Network - "Pedro Parente's resignation is a hard blow to the coup. He was appointed by the PSDB, which has an umbilical relationship with the sector that wants to hand over Petrobras' public assets. It was the PSDB that created that whole wave of privatizations." This is the opinion of José Maria Rangel, coordinator of the Unified Federation of Oil Workers (FUP), regarding the fall of the now former president of Petrobras.

Although he agrees with the assessment that "nothing will change" if the policy implemented by Parente at the state-owned company continues, such as pegging the prices of petroleum derivatives to the international market, the executive considers the dismissal significant. "There aren't many people who have the blessings of the financial market to carry on with all this sell-off that was happening at Petrobras," he told RBA.

In his resignation letter, Parente stated that "the results obtained reveal the success of the set of measures we adopted, which go far beyond pricing policy." According to him, "Petrobras is today a company with a restored reputation."

Behind the scenes, Parente's departure was due to interference from Moreira Franco.
According to Rangel, "the strike by the real truck drivers was an invitation for him to leave, because it exposed the pricing policy for petroleum products." The FUP coordinator emphasizes that even though his work was hampered, and despite the media onslaught, 87% of the Brazilian population supported the strike. "They managed to raise the issue, and we at FUP managed to qualify this debate and demonstrate with numbers and examples how harmful this policy was for the Brazilian people. Pedro Parente felt the impact and asked to leave."

However, the leader warns: "We have to stay on the offensive, we can't rest. Now all that's left is for the illegitimate one (President Michel Temer) to fall, and we're going to keep working towards that."

In videos posted on Facebook, federal congresswomen Maria do Rosário (PT-RS) and Jandira Feghali (PCdoB) commented on Parente's dismissal. "The dismissal was a victory for the Brazilian people, but that doesn't mean it will change Petrobras' pricing policy. This is the pressure that must follow," emphasized Jandira.

She announced a class action lawsuit to be filed next week against the pricing policy for petroleum derivatives. "President Temer is down and out. Without authority, without competence. To end the strike, he promised a tax exemption that will fall on the backs of the Brazilian people."

According to Maria do Rosário, "Pedro Parente is a well-known figure from Fernando Henrique Cardoso's government as being responsible for the electricity blackout. Now he's going to go down in history once again, like in one of those old horror movies, and he's back to put us in a fuel blackout," the Workers' Party member stated.

Jandira recalled that, in his resignation letter, Parente stated that he had fulfilled his mission. "I feel authorized to say that what I promised has been delivered," Parente wrote in the letter. "In fact, he handed over the oil to international capital. This man turned Petrobras into an agency at the service of American and foreign companies, which sold the products extracted in Brazil at the dollar price."

For the communist, the resignation does not mean that the government will change its policy. "It's a weakening of that policy, but it's not yet a change."

Parente also said that the truckers' strike and its consequences "triggered an intense and sometimes emotional debate" and defended his fuel pricing policy. "Few manage to see that it reflects shocks that have reached the global economy, with their effects on the country," declared the politician.

Maria do Rosário also emphasized that the end of Parente's leadership of the state-owned company should be followed by a change in the management of Petrobras and the sector, instead of further cuts to social policies, as the Temer government decided. She proposes reducing the profit margin on diesel, gasoline, and gas, instead of reducing social spending. According to a consultancy firm from the Chamber of Deputies cited by the congresswoman, the profit margin is around 150%.

"The Brazilian people are the ones paying the price. Pedro Parente resigned after raising gasoline prices once again. Gasoline prices haven't gone down, the price of cooking gas remains absurd, and on top of that, the population continues to pay for the dismantling of education, healthcare, and fundamental rights," said the Workers' Party member.

For Jandira, the fuel crisis and Parente's downfall may have served a didactic purpose. "I think the penny has finally dropped for the Brazilian people. It's impossible that people don't understand what this coup was and what its purpose was."