Eduardo Paes sees Lula's "high-handedness" in Rio and puts Ciro Gomes in charge of speaking to his secretaries this Sunday.

247 - Em interview published in the newspaper Valor EconômicoAccording to Grupo Globo, the mayor of Rio de Janeiro, Eduardo Paes (PSD), made a U-turn in the public praise he had been exchanging with former president Lula (PT) and in the state political negotiations that seemed to be heading towards a kind of "non-aggression pact" between the PDT gubernatorial candidates, Rodrigo Neves, supported by Paes, and Marcelo Freixo (PSB), supported by Lula and the PT.

“Lula is not a relevant factor for me in this local election here,” said Paes in the interview, stating that the former president is not a decisive electoral force in Rio as he is in northeastern states. “The position has been: ‘I want the state government, the Senate, and the presidency, and whoever wants to come can applaud me.’ Lula’s stance, I would say somewhat arrogant in Rio de Janeiro, is not that of someone seeking to contribute,” added Paes. The interview with the mayor of Rio in Valor Econômico will be published in the Monday, February 7th edition.

Paes' attack on Lula precedes the mayor's lunch with Ciro Gomes.

A rival of Rodrigo Neves, whom Eduardo Paes will support along with his PSD party and who may nominate lawyer Felipe Santa Cruz, former president of the national OAB (Brazilian Bar Association), as vice-governor or senator, deputy Marcelo Freixo (PSB) was also harshly criticized by the mayor of Rio. “Freixo has no experience in the Executive branch. How will someone who has defended all kinds of irresponsibility his entire life fix the state's fiscal situation? How will someone who has said his entire life that concessions and PPPs are a disgrace to global capitalism attract businesses? How will someone who defended the extinction of the Military Police address the problem of violence?” the mayor of Rio provokes in the interview.

In interview with the program Your Excellency, The FactA week ago (the full interview can be viewed via a link at the end of this text), the PSB congressman acknowledged historical political differences with Eduardo Paes, but adopted a much more conciliatory stance. "We need to disagree within a democracy and stand together to defeat the worst: Bolsonaro and Bolsonarism," said Freixo.

Deputy André Ceciliano (PT), president of the Legislative Assembly of Rio de Janeiro (Alerj) and who is expected to be on Freixo's ticket as a candidate for the Senate (therefore, as a direct opponent of Paes' PSD in the campaign), was treated politely in the interview, the full transcript of which will be published next Monday. 

Paes also told the Globo Group newspaper that he invited the PDT presidential candidate, Ciro Gomes, to give a lecture to his municipal secretaries. "The regional alliance with the PDT, if we are released [by the national leadership of the PSD], brings me closer to Ciro's candidacy," he said. After Ciro Gomes's lecture to his secretariat, Paes will have lunch with the PDT presidential candidate at Gávea Pequena, the official residence of the mayor of Rio, where they will have a political conversation. 

Subscribe to 247, Support via Pix, Subscribe to TV 247, in the channel Cuts 247 and watch: