Patrus: Government destroys policies aimed at the poorest.

Deputy Patrus Ananias (PT-MG), former Minister of Agrarian Development under President-elect Dilma Rousseff, criticized the dismissal of 33 employees from the Secretariat of Food and Nutritional Security and the Secretariat of Social Assistance, bodies that were part of the MDA structure; "He shows himself to be tireless in his zeal to dismantle structures and public policies, as evidenced by his efforts to devastate not only the MDA and the MDS, but also, among others, the areas of Health and Culture," he stated; "Michel Temer and his factional companions have reinstated an old order of Brazilian tradition: that what is good for the people is bad for the government."

July 29, 2016, 16:47 pmUpdated May 28, 2019, 08:41 AM

Deputy Patrus Ananias (PT-MG), former Minister of Agrarian Development under President-elect Dilma Rousseff, criticized the dismissal of 33 employees from the Secretariat of Food and Nutritional Security and the Secretariat of Social Assistance, bodies that were part of the MDA structure; "He shows himself to be tireless in his zeal to dismantle structures and public policies, as evidenced by his efforts to devastate not only the MDA and the MDS, but also, among others, the areas of Health and Culture," he stated; "Michel Temer and his factional companions have reinstated an old order of Brazilian tradition: that what is good for the people is bad for the government" (Photo: Aquiles Lins)

Minas 247 - Federal deputy Patrus Ananias (PT-MG), former Minister of Agrarian Development in the elected government of President Dilma Rousseff, criticized this Friday, the 29th, the decision of interim president Michel Temer, who dismissed 33 employees from activities of the Secretariat of Food and Nutritional Security and the Secretariat of Social Assistance, bodies that were part of the structure of the Ministry of Social Development and Fight against Hunger.

"The escalating devastation of the former MDS (Ministry of Social Development) seriously compromises two of the decisive programs in the strategy to combat hunger adopted, with unquestionable success, by the Lula and Dilma governments. The ruinous Temer government is now mortally wounding the Food Acquisition Program for Family Farming (PAA), which it had already emptied at the very beginning of its destructive frenzy, and the Cisterns Program (National Program to Support Rainwater Harvesting and other Social Technologies)," Patrus stated in a press release.

"Guided by objectives and commitments opposed to ours, the coup government is dedicated to the task of emptying and even eliminating problems like those. It is showing itself tireless in its zeal to dismantle structures and public policies, as evidenced by its efforts to devastate not only the Ministry of Agrarian Development (MDA) and the Ministry of Social Development (MDS), but also, among others, the areas of Health and Culture," he added.

Read Patrus Ananias's statement in full:

"More destruction in the social sphere"

The coup plotters gathered around Michel Temer demonstrate, day after day, week after week, an extremely high capacity to produce and execute atrocities against the majority of the Brazilian people and against Brazil.

Evidence of this is mounting. The destructive mission of social programs that the illegitimate Temer government carries out zealously and daily, serving interests contrary to those of the majority of the people, has reached an even more dramatic and threatening level in recent hours for the country and, especially, for the Brazilians most in need of public policies in the countryside and in the cities.

Today's edition of the Official Gazette of the Union reveals, as the most recent attack perpetrated by the coup plotters against poor populations, the dismantling of the Secretariat for Food and Nutritional Security and the Secretariat for Social Assistance – bodies that were part of the structure of the Ministry of Social Development and the Fight against Hunger and which were precariously absorbed, in the provisional government, by the Ministry of Social and Agrarian Development.

Official decrees published in the Official Gazette dismiss 33 ministry employees – more than 20 of whom worked in the two secretariats.

The escalating devastation of the former MDS (Ministry of Social Development) seriously compromises two of the decisive programs in the strategy to combat hunger adopted, with unquestionable success, by the Lula and Dilma governments. The disastrous Temer government is now mortally wounding the Food Acquisition Program for Family Farming (PAA), which it had already emptied at the very beginning of its destructive rampage, and the Cisterns Program (National Program to Support Rainwater Harvesting and other Social Technologies).

The Food Acquisition Program (PAA) guarantees family farmers a fair price for their harvest and provides food to individuals, families, and communities in situations of food insecurity. The Cisterns Program was and continues to be essential, alongside other programs and initiatives, for families affected by drought in the semi-arid region, including the area where I was born, Northern Minas Gerais.

These are vital, strategic programs that have enabled our governments to guide the Zero Hunger program toward its highest goals.

Guided by objectives and commitments opposed to ours, the coup government is dedicated to emptying and even eliminating problems like those. It is showing itself tireless in its zeal to dismantle structures and public policies, as evidenced by its efforts to devastate not only the Ministry of Agrarian Development (MDA) and the Ministry of Social Development (MDS), but also, among others, the areas of Health and Culture.

Michel Temer and his factional colleagues have reinstated an old order of Brazilian tradition: that what is good for the people is bad for the government.

Patrus Ananias