Contrary to what was stated in a post on TikTok, the construction of the Xambioá Bridge, which connects the cities of Xambioá, in Tocantins, and São Geraldo do Araguaía, in Pará, began in 2020, and in August 2022, under the government of former President Jair Bolsonaro (PL), 70% was already completed – in other words, the work was not fully carried out during the government of Lula (PT). The structure was inaugurated on November 18 this year.
This is not the first time the bridge has been the subject of misinformation content. In 2023, Bound He published two investigations that were also false, but criticized Lula, saying that labor would have been paralyzed under his government.
The license to start the business, as verified by Comprova, was signed in September 2017, during the term of former President Michel Temer (MDB). Through the bridge, it was expected to improve the logistics of BR-153, the main route for transporting local production, which mainly features agricultural, mining and sawmill activities, according to a government statement at the time.
However, one of the companies competing for the bid obtained an injunction from the STF (Federal Supreme Court) blocking the works, which began only three years later, after Dnit (National Department for Transport Infrastructure) obtained a positive decision to start construction.
Then, in April 2020, the federal government announced that it had re-signed the work order to begin construction. Months later, in August of that year, then-Infrastructure Minister Tarcisio de Freitas posted a video on Facebook showing the first pillars of the bridge over the Araguaia River. In August 2022, as Comprova published in a previous inspection, DNIT reported that the work was 70% complete.
The report was based on records from the Copernicus Navigator, an EU platform that monitors the planet using satellite images and sensors. They showed that in September 2019 there was no structure. In December 2022, the last month of Bolsonaro’s government, the bridge was in an advanced stage of construction.
Why are we investigating?
Comprova monitors suspicious content posted on social media and messaging apps about public policy, health, climate change, elections and virtual scams, and launches investigations into those posts with greater reach and engagement. You can also suggest checks via WhatsApp +55 11 97045-4984.
Read the full text on the Comprova website.
The investigation into this content was conducted by Folha and O Dia and published on November 26 by Projeto Comprova, a consortium that brings together 41 vehicles to verify viral content. This has been verified by GZH, A Gazeta, Estadão and AFP.