PT president promises to confront the power of the media.

247 - Before dedicating himself to politics, Rui Falcão was one of the most successful journalists in the country. He worked at Editora Abril, where he reached the position of editor-in-chief of Exame magazine, one of the leading economics and business publications in the country.

Now, he promises to lead a campaign to confront what he calls "media power." He says that media outlets act in a "fundamentalist" way against the Workers' Party and that a democratization project developed by former minister Franklin Martins will be put up for discussion even before the 2012 municipal elections.

Falcão said that Dilma had the courage to "stand up to" the financial system and that she will not hesitate to do the same in relation to the family oligopoly that controls the media in Brazil. Read below a report published in Estado de S. Paulo about the statement made by the president of the PT, which is seen by his opponents as an attempt at censorship:

After launching a crusade against the private financial system and the charging of high interest rates in the country, President Dilma Rousseff's government may put the controversial topic of the regulatory framework for communication up for discussion. This information was given on Friday by the national president of the PT (Workers' Party), Rui Falcão, during a speech at an event on the PT's electoral strategy for this municipal campaign, in Embu das Artes, São Paulo. "This is a government that is committed to the people and has the courage to confront one of the largest and most powerful conglomerates in the country, which is the financial and banking system. And it is now preparing for a second major challenge, which we will face in the electoral campaign, which is the presentation for public consultation of the regulatory framework for communication," said the PT leader in his speech.

According to Falcão, "the media is a power that is linked to the banking and financial system." In his speech, he emphasized: "(The media) is a power that has contrasted with our government since the rise of (former president) Lula, and it doesn't only contrast with the political and economic project. It contrasts with the current prejudice, by conducting a fundamentalist campaign like the one against our comrade Dilma (in the 2010 presidential elections) that strayed from issues of national interest to retreat into obscurantism, in the campaign to reinforce the right wing that is now being exposed, including now, probably in the next two weeks with the appointment of the seven members of the Truth Commission that will thoroughly investigate this historical wound we are experiencing." He continued: "(The media) produces articles and commentaries not to polarize the country, but to attack the PT and our leaders." "The power of the media, this power we must confront."

President Dilma Rousseff inherited from Lula's government the preliminary draft of the regulatory framework for communications, prepared by the then Minister of the Secretariat of Social Communication, Franklin Martins, and presented during the National Communication Conference (CONFECOM) in 2010, which stipulated the "creation of instruments for public and social control" of the media. Due to the controversy the topic generated, Dilma instructed the Minister of Communications, Paulo Bernardo, to thoroughly review the text to avoid any points that could indicate censorship or content control. To date, the document has not yet left the Esplanade of Ministries.

Cachoeira

The Workers' Party leader stated that the Joint Parliamentary Inquiry Commission (CPMI) on Cachoeira should also have the work of the press as a parallel target of investigation. "This CPI will also uncover the links between these criminals and sectors of the Brazilian media," he said. Speaking about the relationship between the criminal Carlinhos Cachoeira and Senator Demóstenes Torres (independent-GO), revealed in the leaked investigation of Operation Monte Carlo, Falcão criticized: "This hypocrite, Senator Demóstenes Torres, is presented by the press as independent, but let's always remember that until a month ago he was a senator for the DEM."

According to Falcão, the reduction in savings account yields, announced yesterday by Finance Minister Guido Mantega, and President Dilma's statement on national television on Labor Day last Tuesday, stating that it is "unacceptable that Brazil, which has one of the most solid and profitable financial systems, continues to have the highest interest rates in the world," demonstrate the government's style. "It is unacceptable that Brazil, which has one of the most solid and profitable financial systems, continues to have the highest interest rates in the world," said the national president of the PT (Workers' Party).