President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva gives an interview to journalists at the Palácio do Planalto this Thursday to take stock of his third year in office. Opening the meeting, he highlighted his government’s growth rates and said he was not elected to denounce the mistakes made by the previous government.
— I am very lucky because the last time this country exceeded 3% was when I left the presidency in 2010. Since then, it has only exceeded 3% when I returned to the presidency of the Republic. The president doesn’t need to understand economics, he needs to know how to build a team, the president said.
Lula was referring to the 2024 Gross Domestic Product (GDP) result, which showed economic growth of 3.4%. This Thursday, the Central Bank (BC) growth projections noted in 2025 from 2% to 2.3%, according to the Monetary Policy Report. British Columbia also updated its projection for expansion in 2026, from 1.5% to 1.6%.
Despite various criticisms of the period in which Jair Bolsonaro presided over the country, Lula said he did not win the elections to “speak ill” of the previous government.
— We did not win the elections to say bad things about the previous government. We won the elections to govern this country and take care of the Brazilian people.
In his opening speech, before answering questions from reporters, the president also praised his government’s relationship with Congress, emphasizing that he had approved almost every economic measure he had proposed.
— I don’t think the National Congress has ever had as many meetings with Brazilian ministers, especially with the Minister of Finance, as today, to approve things. And surprisingly, for those who thought that things would not get better because the far right had elected a lot of deputies and we had few deputies, surprisingly, we managed to approve 99% of everything that the government sent to the National Congress of Economic Interest.
Respond to requests from ministers
Yesterday, Lula told his ministers, during the ministerial meeting at the Official Residence of Granja do Torto, that his parties must decide on which side they will place themselves in the 2026 elections. He also demanded once again that his ministers also study other areas and defend the government. On the Esplanada, there are 39 ministers. Among the acronyms occupying high-level government positions are three Centrão parties that have not yet decided whether they will support Lula: Gilberto Kassab’s PSD; the Republicans to whom Governor Tarcísio de Freitas, of São Paulo, is affiliated; and the BMD. Antônio Rueda’s União Brasil left the government, but maintained its influence, through the President of the Senate, Davi Alcolumbre, in two portfolios: Telecommunications and National Integration.
— I sometimes wonder when you talk about “because in the government of President Lula, in the government of President Lula,” that gives the impression that you are not a government. You have been with me all this time, so the government does not belong to President Lula, it is ours. The government belongs to those who are in government. This is what I want from now on. Communication is Sidônio’s responsibility, the responsibility for the interviews I give, but it is also the responsibility of each companion – Lula demanded.
The president highlighted in his speech what he considers the characteristics of his government, such as reducing unemployment and expanding the income tax exemption, but acknowledged that the good numbers are not yet reflected in opinion polls. For Lula, this is due to political polarization.
— It is important that we are aware that we must make sure that people know what happened in this country (under the Bolsonaro government). I have the impression that people still don’t know, that we don’t yet have the right story for people to know how to evaluate what happened in this country – Lula underlined.
After the meeting with ministers, Lula announced the departure of Celso Sabino from the Ministry of Tourism. The exchange comes a week after Sabino was expelled from União Brasil for disobeying the party’s order to leave his government post. Gustavo Feliciano, son of deputy Damião Feliciano (União Brasil-PB), was chosen to be the new minister. Feliciano should have a conversation with Lula to move to the position of head of the tourism command. Sabino normally participated in the ministerial meeting with Lula.
Government members sitting at the Palácio do Planalto say Gustavo Feliciano’s appointment is the result of the government’s agreement with a wing, União Brasil, which is committed to supporting Lula’s re-election next year. A member of the União Brasil executive affirms that this approach was approved by the party’s president, Antônio Rueda, and confirms that it was articulated by a group of parliamentarians from the party most aligned with the federal government. The party has 59 deputies, and this group brings together around twenty.
A politician close to Rueda says the party had already made this decision in recent days. Father of the new minister, Damião Feliciano is part of the wing most closely linked to the government within the party and is one of Planalto’s vice-presidents in the Chamber.
Furthermore, according to a government member, it is believed that ministers and members of the second level of government should align with Lula and vote for the PT member next year. This will be useful to parties that claim to be independent or that are preparing presidential candidacies in 2026.
The change in direction of Tourism does not have consensus within União Brasil. Some members of the União national board who voted for the party’s departure from the Lula government and for the expulsion of Sabino are against the nomination of a new name. Privately, one of the party’s vice-presidents says that party groups like those of São Paulo (which has 12 deputies) and Goiás (four parliamentarians) are among the opponents.
Rueda’s alleged support for the nomination of Gustavo Feliciano is privately criticized by members of the União executive. Privately, a member of the national leadership leadership says Rueda’s change in position makes no political sense and should be questioned.
Federal deputy from Pará, Sabino intends to run for a seat in the Senate with the support of Lula. Currently without a party, he said he was discussing with the parties and the decision would be made with the president.
— I speak at parties. This decision involves a conversation with President Lula, which we have been having for several days. I imagine that by the end of February we should have already defined this party position to build the proportional and majority lists for the state of Pará — said Sabino.
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