Alckmin in Agriculture could improve the Lula government’s relationship with agriculture

The definition of command of the department occurs amid the conflictive relationship between President Lula (PT) and agriculture. During this year's election campaign, at an event in Santa Catarina, Lula even said that the sector should not only vote for the government, but kneel before it, due to the record amounts allocated to the Safra plans. The most recent exceeded R$500 billion. The statement provoked a strong reaction.

Attrition has political and historical components. The Agricultural Parliamentary Front brings together parliamentarians with a more conservative profile, who offer greater resistance to a left-wing government. At the same time, the PT's historical connection with the Landless Rural Workers Movement (MST) is another factor of tension with the sector.

This combination keeps the relationship on a tightrope: the government makes gestures of rapprochement, but also criticism, while agriculture responds in a similar way. In this year's election, a significant portion of the sector supported Lula's opponent, Flávio Bolsonaro (PL).

Despite the friction, Lula chose, throughout his governments, names close to agribusiness to command Agriculture. This was the case of Roberto Rodrigues, his first minister in the area, Reinhold Stephanes and, more recently, Carlos Fávaro.

It is in this history of choosing interlocutors with experience in the sector that the bet on Alckmin arises. His name is mentioned as a possibility for the portfolio, with no decision yet on who will take Fávaro's place.