By CARLOS TAUTZ*
Silvio Almeida accused the Me Too of having acted to influence an MDH bid due to having an interest in the outcome of the contest
Given the circumstances, it was correct, until proven otherwise, to dismiss Silvio Almeida from his post as Minister of Human Rights. In the end, considering all the reports as unacceptable inconsistencies, and even though the former minister has the irrevocable right to defense and the presumption of innocence, there was no other alternative for a government that advocates zero femicide.
However, the late dismissal does not close the case — considering that other ministers have been aware of the complaint made by the Minister of Racial Equality Anielle Franco since 2023. Since last week, the public dismissal process has given rise to concentric suspicions, which the scandal-ridden media prefers to ignore. It is necessary to investigate the allegations made by the former minister himself, that national and international groups would have an interest in his departure and whether these interests were manifested in his dismissal.
These doubts require the Lula government to be prompt, quick and intolerable in providing clarification.
Minister Anielle Franco reported to several ministers the sexual harassment of Silvio Almeida — a crime committed by a person whom society expects to combat, among others, precisely this type of illicit act. No public measures were taken. Even though the top echelon prioritized tackling the difficult times that the Lula government was going through — blackmailed by an unpunished criminal who leads the Chamber of Deputies and by a sellout with a historical legacy who presides over a Central Bank subservient to the previous President — the unavoidable political gravity and the extent of the Silvio Almeida issue were already clear and urgent. Why did internal government channels not address a problem that structures the relationship between women and men in Brazil?
Complicating the story are the objective and immediate circumstances — although not so explicit — in which the Ministry of Human Rights (MDH) found itself, seen by the government as central to restoring Brazil's international image after Jair Bolsonaro. One of these circumstances was Sílvio Almeida's open opposition to the privatization of prisons and socio-educational institutions.
The measure is contained in a decree that regulates the Investment Partnership Program (PPI). Sílvio Almeida used all the symbolism of a black man and an intellectual reference in the field of human rights to counter the privatization thesis that guides Lula himself and two important signatories of the decree (which is still being analyzed): Vice President Geraldo Alckmin and Finance Minister Fernando Haddad. Fernando Haddad is none other than the government's main bridge with the financial market and has been prepared by the PT to succeed Lula.
Journalist Milly Lacombe, from UOL, wrote in his column that Silvio Almeida was against the entire government on this point: “The Ministry of Human Rights is the only ministry to directly oppose the prison privatization agenda, which is in the interests of the private sector and a society that is not ashamed of being racist. We have 800 people incarcerated, the vast majority of whom are black. Who is interested in the dismantling of the only ministry that is confronting privatization at its decisive moment?”
Sílvio Almeida was openly opposed to the privatization of the Brazilian prison system, recognized for the institutional priority of keeping black people behind bars. The former minister stated that the decree signed in 2023 “opens space for infiltration by organized crime.” The more people enter the prison system and remain there, the more local criminal ranks and the bank accounts of international groups that take advantage of privatization would be fed. This situation may have accelerated two months ago.
In June, the Chamber of Deputies debated the decree in a public hearing — which, by the way, reveals another plot in Brasília. One of the authors of the request for a hearing was Congressman Glauber Braga (PSOL/RJ), who is the target of an impeachment process operated by Arthur Lira (Progressistas/AL), the president of the House in favor of the privatization decree.
In Brazil, there are dozens of private prisons, but they are run by the states. The PPI decree aims to regulate privatization at the federal level. Sílvio Almeida argued that all of these experiments in Brazil and other countries have failed and mainly harm black people. In the US, the country with the largest prison population in the world, these penitentiaries are also considered negative experiments, which only serve to transport tens of thousands of non-white people every year.
Last week, a social organization called me Too reported, as far as we know, only through the newspaper Metropolis cases of women who were allegedly harassed by Silvio Almeida. This was the trigger that resulted in Silvio Almeida's dismissal. There is no news about these complaints being formalized through official channels. Silvio Almeida responded and accused the Me Too of having acted to influence an MDH bid due to having an interest in the outcome of the contest.
If true, the case of attempted interference should have already been registered by Silvio Almeida through internal channels and, perhaps, even with the Federal Police (PF). Was it? Was it not? Why? Is Silvio Almeida's complaint true? Are there other cases?
In June, the Federal Police indicted Communications Minister Juscelino Filho for organized crime, money laundering and passive corruption. He is accused of allocating parliamentary amendments to fraudulent projects that benefited his own family when he was a federal deputy for União Brasil-MA. The Minister remains in office. Is the double standard applied by Lula justified in order to maintain União Brasil's support for the government in Congress? Was there racism in maintaining a white minister who had already been indicted by the Federal Police in contradiction to the dismissal of another black minister, who was indicted and will still be investigated?
Frightened by Silvio Almeida's radical contradiction, exposed without restraint, the Brazilian left and the race and gender movements responsible for his nomination to the ministry are trying to learn lessons from the tragedy. They still need to digest, like everyone who is at least minimally progressive and sensitive, the cannonball we received in our hearts.
*Carlos Tautz is a journalist and doctoral candidate in history at the Fluminense Federal University (UFF).
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