Intervention or economic recovery using resources from the Federal District Government?

The sudden decision by the Federal District Government to intervene in the public transportation companies of the Amaral Group - Rápido Veneza, Viva Brasília and Rápido Brasília - was received with ecstasy by various sectors of society and, especially, by PT (Workers' Party) militants, who began to believe that the Agnelo/Filippelli government was now bringing to light its revolutionary pedigree.

After a few days, and faced with a completely dilapidated fleet that forces the administrator to use his own resources – albeit public ones – to keep the company running, the question arises: are they intervening or economically recovering a bankrupt company? A company owned by a former senator who has never been far from powerful sectors of the Palácio do Buriti (the seat of the government of the Federal District). A businessman-politician who manages to illegally occupy a vast green area on the banks of Lake Paranoá, even with a court decision obligating the GDF (Government of the Federal District) to recover the area for public patrimony and the population of Brasília.

In the first weeks of the "intervention," the Federal District government was already forced to allocate 15 million reais for the most basic expenses: from buying tires, fuel, lubricants, parts, and products necessary for vehicle maintenance, to more significant expenses to revive a fleet of 180 vehicles. There is no prior assessment guaranteeing that the Federal District government will not have to allocate other amounts of funds from public coffers.

For younger or more recent residents of Brasília, it's important to remember that the companies of the Amaral Group began operating in Brasília, mainly in the Plano Piloto (Pilot Plan), by cannibalizing the state-owned company Transporte Coletivo de Brasília – TCB, whose main source of income was the Grande Circular line. This was a short route connecting Avenida L.2, Sul and Norte, and Avenida W.3, Sul and Norte, on well-paved roads with a high passenger-per-kilometer ratio. Based on the discourse of the Minimal State, which prevailed in Brazil between the 1980s and 1990s, TCB died from starvation induced by the GDF (Government of the Federal District) itself, which prioritized serving those who had always been friends of the candidates for the Buriti (government headquarters).

Now, once again, it is evident that the private sector has no commitment to quality. The argument that the private sector is better and more efficient than the state-owned sector falls apart. Even being a powerful group, operating in various sectors of the local economy, Amaral did not bother to keep at least 300 buses running in the Federal District, as it had promised to the Public Prosecutor's Office.

Economic recovery

If in the past TCB lost its routes to the companies of the former senator, today it is witnessing the transfer of part of its inventory to the same private group. On February 3rd, the Correio Braziliense newspaper reported the transfer to the transport companies under intervention of 163 tires from the state-owned company, basic safety equipment such as parts for electrical, transmission, clutch and brake systems, as well as approximately 30,000 liters of diesel fuel and 147 200-liter drums of lubricant. It will be no surprise if soon TCB, which needs to hold public tenders for the purchase of parts and equipment it uses, finds its garage shelves empty.

The GDF's action should have been to return the lines operated by the Amaral Group to TCB. Many will say that the state-owned company doesn't have the structure for this. That's possible, but let's consider that TCB itself is the company designated to manage the transport companies under intervention, and the resources that TCB might lack to expand its fleet are the same ones that the GDF is injecting into the Amaral Group. As a last resort, the Amaral Group's buses in roadworthy condition could be temporarily confiscated by the State.

The Federal District government is taking money paid by taxpayers in property tax (IPTU), service tax (ISS), sales tax (ICMS), and vehicle tax (IPVA) – the second most expensive in the country – and injecting it into a private company that, as we know, will not be able to repay it. In six months, when new bus companies are contracted, the Amaral Group will be out of operation in the Federal District, as the group was not qualified to participate in the bidding process for the operation of the new public transport basins.

The return of these funds, as well as the "intervention" itself, will be a subject of legal controversy for many years. Even if the received amounts are returned to the public coffers, it certainly will not be with the high interest rates charged by the national banking system. Therefore, several analysts see this intervention announced by Agnelo and Filippelli as a bailout operation for the Amaral Group disguised as an intervention. In six months, or more, when the intervention is suspended, the buses of former Senator Valmir Amaral will all be refurbished, ready to operate even on routes outside the Federal District. It would therefore be a very well-elaborated financial scheme to put into action a financial rescue operation, using the widow as guarantor. The taxpayer, who already sees resources from Health, Education, Public Works, etc., reallocated to the construction of the Mané Garrincha stadium, now sees, once again, the king's friends being benefited at the expense of the quality of life of the residents of Brasília.