28/11/2023 – 21:56
The Labor Court annulled the election for president of the Federation of Agriculture and Livestock of the State of São Paulo (Faesp) which would have elected Tirso Meirelles, son of the entity’s current president, Fábio Meirelles, in the position for 48 years. Tirso would run as the only candidate in the election scheduled for December 4th.
The decision came after action by farmer Paulo Junqueira, who has the support of allies of governor Tarcísio de Freitas (Republicanos-SP). He tried to register an opposition ticket, but failed. Faesp management argued that Junqueira did not present all the documents necessary for registration. Estadão sought the defenses of both Faesp and Paulo Junqueira, but has not yet received a response.
The labor judge, Marcia Ishirugi, responded to Junqueira’s request and ordered the publication of a new notice calling for new elections for, at the latest, January 3, 2024. The judge considered that, contrary to what the entity’s statute provides, Faesp was not open for 8 hours a day during the five days in which applications could be registered. There was closure on Saturday and Sunday.
“The number of members on the ticket (50 people) and the fact that they belong to different Municipalities justifies the existence of possible doubts and the need for the entity to remain open throughout the period provided for in its Statute, which, it must be said, already It’s quite meager,” she wrote.
As shown by the Estadão on the 23rd, the preference for Junqueira within the Tarcísio government is due not only to his proximity to the businessman, who was a donor to the governor’s campaign in 2022, but also to the disagreements between members of the administration and his opponent, Tirso Meirelles, current vice-president of Faesp, who was in charge of Sebrae-SP during the transition.
At the time, Tirso blocked the government’s attempt to appoint Guilherme Campos (PSD-SP) as superintendent of the body, having worked to support Marco Vinholi. In the end, neither of them got the job and, now, members of the government want to give change (see below).
Junqueira accuses his opponent in the dispute, Tirso Meirelles, of using the power he holds as vice-presidency of the entity to make an opposition ticket unfeasible. Tirso is the son of the organization’s president, Fábio Meirelles, a 96-year-old rural producer, half of whom, 48 years, he spent in office. Faesp’s legal director, Angela Gandra Martins, refutes the version and guarantees that the electoral commission is independent. According to her, Junqueira was not able to comply with the rites required in the organization’s statute and is now trying to demoralize the Meirelles.
Faesp brings together more than 200 unions spread across the State
The imbroglio does not happen by chance. Faesp maintains 235 rural employers’ unions spread across 645 municipalities in São Paulo under its umbrella. He is also a shareholder in Agrishow, the main sector fair in the country and which generated R$ 13.29 billion in business in the last edition, held in May this year.
The organization boasts an annual budget of approximately R$60 million, accumulated through installments of union contributions, partnerships with governments and companies and transfers from the National Rural Learning Service (SENAR), from the S system, to offer courses for rural producers.
The initial sinking of his ticket in the dispute for Faesp, now reversed, frustrated allies of governor Tarcísio de Freitas. State deputy Lucas Bove (PL-SP) highlighted lawyer Ygor Lucas Gomes da Costa, assigned as an advisor in his office, to monitor the process. A rural producer, the parliamentarian represents agribusiness in the Legislative Assembly and also received a financial contribution from Junqueira in his campaign. Part of Tarcísio’s secretariat also does not hide its preference for Junqueira.
Conflict with the government began at the time of Sebrae
The preference of Tarcísio’s allies for Paulo Junqueira is also explained by another clash. The governor’s group had already entered into a collision course with Tirso Meirelles during the government transition period, when he held the presidency of Sebrae-SP. At the time, Guilherme Afif Domingos, current special secretary for Strategic Projects in São Paulo, tried to place former federal deputy Guilherme Campos (PSD-SP) in the superintendency of the body.
Tirso and a group of tucanos lobbied to keep Marco Vinholi in office. Faced with the impasse, an intermediate solution was adopted. Nelson Hervey Costa took over as superintendent and Vinholi became technical director.
Paulo Junqueira is president of the Rural Union and the Rural Association of Ribeirão Preto and was one of the donors to Tarcísio’s campaigns and also to former president Jair Bolsonaro in 2022. He donated R$160 thousand to one and R$106 thousand to the other . His four-suite house in Orlando, Florida, housed the former president during part of the period he spent in the United States after losing re-election to Lula. He also offered lunch to Bolsonaro and allies on his farm during Agrishow, held in Ribeirão Preto, where he was carried by the former president.
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