06/22/2024 – 15:40
Mayor Ricardo Nunes (MDB) heard criticism for choosing retired colonel Ricardo de Mello Araújo (PL) as his deputy in the re-election campaign for São Paulo City Hall. The criticisms emerged this Saturday morning, the 22nd, one day after the military’s confirmation on the Emedebista ticket.
During an event to inaugurate a football field, community leader Guilherme Corrêa rebuked the appointment of Colonel Mello Araújo to the position of deputy. “We who are from favelas no longer accept weapons in the community. We want books, the Bible, people with a social outlook. Favela is anything but a weapon. Favelas don’t have bums,” he stated.
Corrêa’s statement was made on the stage set up for the City Hall event. Nunes followed the criticism alongside the community leader, who published a video smiling alongside the mayor after the event. The case occurred on Nunes’ first public agenda after the vice president’s announcement and was revealed by the newspaper Folha de S. Paulo.
Former commander of Rondas Ostensivas Tobias de Aguiar (Rota), Mello Araújo was appointed to the post of Nunes’ deputy by former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL). Initially, those around the mayor showed resistance to the former Rota’s name, but ended up giving in given the risk of losing Bolsonaro’s support, especially with the entry of coach Pablo Marçal (PRTB) into the dispute.
Bolsonarista, Mello Araújo echoes the former president’s speech with attacks on the Judiciary and defense of the conservative agenda of customs. He was director of the Companhia de Entrepostos e Armazéns Gerais de São Paulo (Ceagesp) during the Bolsonaro government.
The idea of Nunes’ campaign is to highlight Mello Araújo’s management at Ceagesp, presenting him as a technician, not a politician, and involving him in the formulation of the government plan in the area of public security. Although public security is the responsibility of the state government, it has proven to be a priority for São Paulo voters in the most recent electoral polls.
Mello Araújo’s management at Ceagesp was marked by the militarization of the public company and by clashes with the Union of Employees in Food Supply Centers of the State of São Paulo (Sindbast). The former Rota commander filled most of the commissioned positions with retired military police officers and set up a shooting club at the company’s headquarters, in Vila Leopoldina, west of the capital.
Mello Araújo tried to expel Sindbast from Ceagesp, but was prevented by the courts. The organization’s management accuses the colonel of invading the union with armed security guards after the court decision. In a statement released at the time, Sindbast stated that the entity’s employees and directors were intimidated by the armed men who accompanied Mello Araújo.
In 2017, the then commander of Rota, Mello Araújo, made a controversial statement in an interview with the portal UOL. At the time, he stated that the PMs who work in the upscale region and on the outskirts of São Paulo adopt different approaches. At the time, the General Command of the Military Police defended the then lieutenant colonel, stating that the statement was taken out of context.
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