By ANDRÉ RICARDO DIAS*
Oligarchy, patrimonialism, bossism, clientelism or physiologism, all the key concepts for a political science about Brazil fit into the history of the Coelho family in Petrolina (PE)
“This Sunday, July 07th, an unprecedented event will take place in Petrolina: the reunion of all members of the traditional Coelho family in a city that stands out nationally. It will be a cozy moment, bringing together grandparents, parents, children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren of this large family, whose roots are firmly planted in this caatinga and riverside city.” [I]
For those curious about the history of journalism, this headline may lead us to believe that it is an excerpt from a mid-20th century news story published in Journal of Commerce, from Pernambuco. However, it is a note about the meeting of generations of the Coelho family that took place in the year 2024. The news continues: “Starting (…) with Clementino Coelho, who was vice-mayor of Marcelino Santana from the years (?) from 1910 onwards. Since then, the Coelho family coat of arms has become popular throughout Brazil”.
July 2024. More than a hundred members of the Coelhos family gather in Petrolina.[ii] Celebrating another century. It is said that this branch of the Coelhos goes back in a direct line to Portuguese noblemen who arrived here in the 18th century. People who live in other countries and regions of Brazil; they are the new generations of the clan, already direct heirs to a fortune of unknown numbers. The same cannot be said of their origin, based on land ownership and exploration of the Submédio São Francisco Valley, a region that stretches between Pernambuco and northern Bahia.
Latifundium, patrimonialism, the politics of “coronelismo, hoe and vote”, are the amalgam of the history of the oligarchies of the Northeast, so studied in the 20th century and little debated today. They are four hundred oligarchies in the 21st century. The economic scenario has certainly undergone profound transformations that have changed the way land and labor are exploited in our backlands.
Along this path, conservative modernization projected a devastating neoliberalism that radically changed the scenario of the northeastern backlands. Starting with the first Lula administration, the 2000s gave way to major transformations in that scenario. In the region, industrial investment policies encouraged the arrival of an avalanche of investment capital in the form of land speculation from the agricultural sector. Production of transgenic crops and the various forms of agribusiness activity spread along the banks of the Middle São Francisco. Monsanto-Bayer,[iii] Pepsico and dozens of medium-sized industries are setting up shop in what will become one of the largest and most promising hubs in the fruit production market, including goat, grape, mango, sugar cane and GMOs.
In this agribusiness combo, accelerated and poorly planned urban growth has destroyed thousands of hectares of caatinga in record time. An exponent of the new socioeconomic configuration of the city and its surroundings, population growth has led to land speculation by questionable owners, consolidating the enrichment of businessmen in the construction sector through the creation of subdivisions and housing complexes without adequate infrastructure.[iv] these being financed mainly by Caixa Econômica Federal through Minha Casa, Minha Vida.
The management of these changes goes through the Coelhos' political-business bureau[v], the 3rd Regional Superintendence of Codevasf.[vi] The legal-political structure, of unique organization, includes interference over RIDE,[vii] the Integrated Administrative Region for the Development of the Petrolina and Juazeiro Hub, which has its own legal constitution and space for lawlessness.[viii] Created during the last FHC government, the Decree-Law that regulates it has already been adjusted by Lula and Jair Bolsonaro, to the taste of their administrative councils.
Like rabbits
Colonel Clementino Coelho is the father of Nilo Coelho, who is the brother of Geraldo Coelho and Oswaldo Coelho, who is the father of Guilherme Coelho, who is the nephew of Gercino Coelho, father of Nilo Augusto Coelho. Gercino is the brother of José de Souza Coelho, who is the father of Cyro Coelho and Luíz Coelho, who are the nephews of Paulo Coelho, who is the father of Clementino de Souza Coelho and Fernando Bezerra Coelho. FBC is the father of Miguel Coelho, who is the brother of Antônio Coelho and FBC Filho…
We will stop here, without exhausting this archetypal genealogy of Brazilian history since the colonial period. There may be some confusion in this genealogy, but that is not the point. It is important to say that they are or were politicians of municipal, state, regional and national standing. Mayors, city councilors, state and federal deputies, senators; president of the Senate and of the National Congress. Ministers, secretaries of state in the most diverse spheres and areas possible. Industrialists, farmers, landowners, businessmen from various fields of activity, including radio and TV media, such as the Rede Globo affiliate in the Sertão do São Francisco region, TV Grande Rio.
In the agribusiness sector, nothing escapes the extractive chain managed by the family, not even the emblematic goat,[ix] symbol of the region. They give their names to streets, neighborhoods, social interest projects, public buildings, parks, etc. The clan even includes a Silicon Valley millionaire.[X]
The Coelho family’s ownership of lands cultivated over the centuries was combined with the diversification of its companies and lines of business, supported by the politics that support them. Here, politics is a business bureau in the strictest sense of the term. It is governing to manage its own wealth in plain sight and with the consent and enthusiasm of the population itself. The clientelism of “At least they bring something here” persists in the region; a mix of blackmail and complacency typical of the impoverished backlands of past centuries. Or, even today.
Strengthening the dictatorship
Anyone who enters Petrolina's Josefa Coelho Municipal Park will come across a reproduction of a photograph in which the matriarch who gives her name to the public structure can be seen sitting in a rocking chair with João Baptista de Figueiredo at her side. The dictator visited the city and, sitting hunched over, seemed to surrender to the hostess's arrogance. A chapter in this story that would define the family's future and consolidate its power since the mid-1960s.
The clan's support for the civil-military dictatorship in the states of Pernambuco and northern Bahia was of great importance to the generals. It was through the family, which acted as a transmission belt for the dictatorship, that military power was established in Pernambuco with an iron fist by bionic politicians such as Nilo Coelho, Paulo Pessoa Guerra (a key figure in the deposition of Miguel Arraes in 1964 by the Military Regime), Cid Sampaio and Gustavo Krause (bionic mayor of Recife and father of the current vice-governor of Pernambuco, Priscila Krause).
The political arms of the Coelhos spread, especially after Paulo Coelho. Fernando Bezerra Coelho & his sons consolidated their position in the business and have been successful in continuing the family's power projects.
The way to do family politics is sui generis. Apparently, they are completely devoid of any political and ideological foundation or principles. They manage to interfere in governments of the most diverse parties and political lines in leading roles in a way that would be enviable for any political group in the country. This is the secret to maintaining a strong and extremely centralizing family power around them: a character and political morality that is equally questionable and cynically surprising.
Another secret is strict discretion. Avoiding the spotlight was a maxim for the Coelhos; acting discreetly guaranteed their political support away from major public clashes and disputes. Equally discreet is the always timid exposure of their domains and wealth.
The history of politics in Pernambuco follows the almost invisible guiding thread held firmly by the clan, another tactical secret to ensure its local power over the entire region: “Don’t move here and our support is guaranteed”; a maxim. They adopted a defensive tactic of barricades around their large estate turned city. An example of a political form that is almost untouchable and rarely seen in its entirety.
However, this modus operandi also includes being present in other regions of the state. For example, today, Antônio de Souza Leão Coelho (yes, there is a family crossover with other elites from Pernambuco) is a licensed state deputy and current Secretary of Tourism for Recife, a position of no importance and which he holds only as a symbolic marker of the family's reach. With the blessing of the Coelhos, João Campos governs.
The landowners will meet in 2024 and symbolically demarcate their domain. They no longer live in the city. Oligarchy, patrimonialism, bossism, clientelism or patronage, all the key concepts for a political science about Brazil fit into the history of the Coelho family. For them, centrists, right-wing, progressivism and extremism are wide open doors. A history that has yet to be targeted by the left in the state, which is unaware of its structural importance for the oligarchic politics of Pernambuco.
* André Ricardo Dias is a professor of philosophy at the Federal Rural University of Pernambuco (UFRPE).
Notes
[I] View at: https://blognossavoz.com.br/todas-as-geracoes-da-familia-coelho-em-um-so-lugar-petrolina/
[ii] https://blognossavoz.com.br/emocao-e-resgate-historico-marcam-primeiro-encontro-da-familia-coelho-em-petrolina-2/
https://globoplay.globo.com/v/12740315
[iii] https://www.bayer.com.br/pt/midia/bayer-amplia-investimento-expande-centro-inovacao-em-petrolina
[iv] https://g1.globo.com/pe/petrolina-regiao/noticia/2023/12/20/chuva-evidencia-falta-de-estrutura-em-bairros-perifericos-de-petrolina.ghtml
[v] https://jc.ne10.uol.com.br/colunas/jc-negocios/2023/10/15622396-criada-pela-familia-coelho-codevasf-foi-apropriada-pelo-centrao-para-distribuir-verbas-a-prefeitos-sem-controle.html
[vi]https://www.brasildefato.com.br/2021/06/01/o-que-o-orcamento-secreto-de-bolsonaro-tem-a-ver-com-pernambuco#:~:text=Os%20Coelhos%20e%20a%20Codevasf&text=A%20Companhia%20%C3%A9%20comandada%20internamente,em%20Petrolina%2C%20sert%C3%A3o%20de%20Pernambuco.
[vii] https://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/_Ato2019-2022/2020/Decreto/D10296.htm#art11
[viii] https://jc.ne10.uol.com.br/colunas/jc-negocios/2021/05/12122443-escandalo-do-tratoraco-revela-divisao-do-poder-dos-coelhos-na-codevasf.html
[ix] The Modern Tannery processes and exports animal skins. See at: https://curtumemoderno.com.br/
[X] https://targetadvisor.com.br/bill-e-melinda-gates-investem-us-10-milhoes-em-empresa-de-pedro-coelho-filho-de-fernando-bezerra/
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