The president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) criticized the governor of Minas Gerais, Romeu Zema (New)and said in an interview with Altérosa TV, this Thursday (11), who has not yet given up on appealing to the senator Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD) as a candidate for the local Executive in 2026.
“When he says that my government is a time bomb, he has to look at his government. Because he took this government with a debt of a hundred billion and left it with about two hundred billion. He spent eight years without paying the debt. Eight years! “, he declared.
Continuing his criticism of Zema’s leadership, Lula praised Pacheco, emphasizing his commitment to approving the propagate, program that allows indebted states, like Minas, to renegotiate their debts to the Union.
“We are the ones who reached an agreement to resolve the debt problem in Minas. And then, again, with the help of Pacheco, who worked hard for us to create Propag,” he said.
Lula: Zema “plays politics on the Internet”
Lula then mocked Zema’s possible candidacy for president and said the governor was “playing politics on the Internet.”
“These kinds of people who play politics on the Internet, lie whatever they want, eat jackfruit with the skin, pineapple with the skin, watermelon with the skin, banana with the skin, it doesn’t work,” he said.
“If he is a candidate and I am a candidate, I will measure who has implemented the most social inclusion policies in Minas Gerais, whether it is the federal government or the state government,” Lula added.
“Hope is the last thing to die”
Still about Pacheco, Lula said he was not giving up on the former Senate president running for the Minas government in 2026. “Hope is the last thing that dies. Honestly, when I started to nourish, in my head, and try to nourish comrade Pacheco, the importance of being a candidate for state government, it was because I learned to love Pacheco. I think he is an extremely competent person. And I think today he is the greatest public figure in Minas Gerais,” Lula said.
The president highlighted the importance of Minas Gerais for the 2026 national elections. “I told him: man, I ask you to help me win the presidential elections of the Republic. You will be governor of the second most important state in Brazil. You can make a difference in this electoral process,” Lula said.
Removal after choosing Messias for STF
Far from the federal government since he was sidelined by Lula, who chose Jorge Messias for the vacant position in Federal Court (STF), Pacheco refused the president’s invitation to participate in the Minas Gerais agenda. In a press release, the parliamentarian justified himself by saying that he felt honored.
According to his allies, the senator had important issues to follow in Brasilia. “I won’t be able to be present. But it’s always an honor to receive an invitation from the president and a joy to have him in Minas,” Pacheco said.
About The Author
