A devastating profile of Gambiarra, the senator who names watermelons.
What sets Senator Hélio José, known as Hélio Gambiarra, apart from other politicians is that, "in his naiveté and total lack of preparation, he manages to be even worse than his peers. He is a caricature of old Brazilian politics," describes journalist Hélio Doyle of the Jornal de Brasília; for Doyle, the video showing the parliamentarian saying that the Secretariat of the Union's Assets belongs to him and that if he wants he can put a watermelon in charge of it "only surprised those who don't know him."
247 - Columnist Hélio Doyle, from the Jornal de Brasília newspaper, paints a devastating profile of Senator Hélio José, known as Hélio Gambiarra, who recently became notorious with a video in which he claims that the Secretariat of Federal Assets belongs to him and that if he wants, he can put a watermelon in charge of it.
According to the journalist, what sets the senator apart from other politicians is that, "in his naiveté and complete lack of preparation, he manages to be even worse than his peers. He is a caricature of old Brazilian politics."
"The senator without votes began his political life in the PT (Workers' Party) and earned the nickname in 1995, when he made makeshift connections to pull electricity to his house, where he threw a large party attended by then-governor Cristovam Buarque and later president Lula. The press denounced it, and CEB, where he worked, prepared an extensive report on other wrongdoings by Hélio José, delivered to Cristovam by the then-president of the company, Rubem Fonseca, and the then-Secretary of Public Works, Hermes de Paula. The content was never made public," says an excerpt from Hélio Doyle's text.
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