Sugarcane workers turn protest into gratitude.
Even after the approval of the R$ 125 million subsidy by the Federal Government to approximately 20 sugarcane farmers in the Northeast, the sugarcane producers will highlight the impacts of the drought on the sector in a protest scheduled for the 20th in Pernambuco, when President Dilma Rousseff (PT) will participate in the inauguration of the Arena Pernambuco stadium. The sugarcane farmers will also take the opportunity to thank the head of the Federal Executive for the change in stance, who days before had vetoed the subsidy.
PE247 – Even after the Federal Government approved the subsidy for approximately 20 sugarcane farmers in the Northeast, the sugarcane producers will highlight the impacts of the drought on the sector in a protest scheduled for the 20th in Pernambuco, when President Dilma Rousseff (PT) will come to the state to participate in the inauguration of the Arena Pernambuco stadium, located in São Lourenço da Mata, in the western part of Greater Recife. But the sugarcane farmers will also take the opportunity to thank the head of the Federal Executive for changing her stance, as she had previously vetoed the subsidy. With the measure now approved, the producers will benefit from R$ 125 million.
“The government rightly decided to reassess the veto and release the subsidy,” celebrated the president of the Northeast Union of Sugarcane Producers (Unida), Alexandre Lima. According to the project, the government will subsidize R$ 12 per ton of sugarcane up to a limit of 10 tons per producer. On the 8th, President Dilma had vetoed the subsidy arguing that the measure would exceed the government's budget limit. However, after much pressure from sugarcane growers, who met with representatives of the Ministry of Finance this Thursday (16), in Brasília (DF), the government yielded.
“Dilma committed to including the subsidy in Provisional Measure 613, or in MP 603,” Lima gratefully acknowledged. According to him, this new stance will be remembered by the sugarcane suppliers present at the demonstration. The leader informed that the government made an agreement with the sector to form a permanent commission of sugarcane industry leaders and members of the federal Executive's economic team in order to address specific measures aimed at strengthening sugarcane cultivation in the Northeast Region, which is suffering the worst drought in the last 50 years. “The commission is fundamental,” said the president of Unida.
Lima also mentioned the 30% deficit in the last regional sugarcane harvest due to the drought, which is affecting nearly 1,5 municipalities and impacting more than ten million people. The drought has caused losses of around R$ 700 million in the sugarcane industry. "The damage is real and irreversible," he added.