Ronaldo Caiado (PSD), Augusto Cury (Avante), Renan Santos (Missão) and Flávio Bolsonaro (PL) are the candidates for the Presidency of the Republic who have the greatest number of specific proposals for the Northeast. A survey by g1 based on the presidential candidates' government plans shows that they dedicate a chapter - and three to five pages - of government programs to diagnoses and promises for the region, the Semi-Arid or regional development policies.
The president and candidate for re-election, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), dedicates a chapter to regional development proposals, which includes the Northeast, in addition to including the region in other parts of the plan, through national policies in areas such as infrastructure, connectivity and water security.
Candidates such as Samara Martins (UP), Pablo Marçal (PRTB) and Clariana Barão (DC) present more specific measures, related to environmental protection or, without mentioning the Northeast, regional development and the fight against regional inequality. Edmilson Costa (PCB) only talks about "least assisted regions".
In a statement, Samara Martins said that the goal is for the Northeast region to become a hub for science and technology production and, at the same time, food production. Marçal, Clariana and Edmilson did not respond to the report's contact.
🔎Pablo Marçal (PRTB) registered his candidacy on the last day of the deadline, on August 15, although he is ineligible. The Superior Electoral Court (TSE) will still decide whether or not he can run.
Among the proposals presented by the candidates in the programs registered with the Superior Electoral Court are the installation of new data centers, expansion of 5G, new railways, industrialization and valorization of the Caatinga.
Lula, Flávio Bolsonaro, Augusto Cury, Ronaldo Caiado, Renan Santos and Romeu Zema — Photo: Globo
Romeu Zema (Novo) is the only one among the candidates scoring in the electoral polls who does not make any mention of the Northeast. The expression "regional development" only appears in his government program associated with policies in the area of culture.
Candidates Hertz Dias (PSTU), Rui Costa Pimenta (PCO) and Wilson Grassi (Democrat) do not mention the Northeast nor talk about regional development in their government plans.
Rui Costa Pimenta stated in a note that the PCO program applies entirely to the Northeast, because the region is not treated as an administrative problem separate from the rest of the country. Zema, Hertz and Gassi were contacted, but did not respond to the report's request for information.
Northeast as a strategic region
According to economist and sociologist Tânia Bacelar, a specialist in regional development, the Northeast needs to be included in government programs both with specific policies for the region and with priority in proposals considered national.
"A policy to support the transformation of the productive base of the vast semi-arid region is essential, because the productive structure that prevailed there for centuries has collapsed. The climate crisis, in turn, brings the challenge of stopping desertification and recovering degraded areas, and the opportunity to act in the carbon market", suggests the expert.
For political scientist Arthur Leandro, professor of Public Policy at the Federal University of Pernambuco, the weight given to the Northeast in government programs follows a trend in recent elections, in which competitive candidates treat the region as a strategic area for the country's development.
He also observes an electoral strategy. Voting intention surveys by the Quaest and Datafolha institutes show that Lula would win in all states in the Northeast, following the trend of previous elections.
"The region continues to be very important for Lula. In this context, specific proposals from other candidates also function as a political signal of attention to northeastern voters", highlighted the political scientist.
See candidates' proposals
Ronaldo Caiado presents the largest number of specific proposals for the Northeast: there are fourteen proposals. The name of the region appears nine times in the government program and the expression "regional development" seven times. The chapter "Policy for the Northeast: development, water and opportunities" has three pages.
In a statement, Caiado said that he prepared a government project to create the Northeast Pact 2030, through partnerships with governors, mayors, the productive sector and local institutions.
Ronaldo Caiado's proposals for the Northeast. — Photo: Kayan Albertin/Arte g1
With nine proposals for the Northeast, Augusto Cury's program has the chapter "Brazil Oásis: Revolution in the Semi-Arid", which covers the Northeast and also the North of Minas Gerais. There are five pages. The word "Northeast" appears ten times and "regional development" five times.
Augusto Cury's proposals for the Northeast. — Photo: Kayan Albertin/Arte g1
In the chapter "The Northeast is a Solution", Renan Santos focuses his measures on industrialization and the creation of Special Economic Zones (ZEEs). There are three pages and eight proposals. The word "Northeast" is mentioned 11 times in the program, but the expression "regional development" does not appear.
Renan Santos' proposals for the Northeast. — Photo: Kayan Albertin/Arte g1
Flávio Bolsonaro brings seven proposals and deals with the Northeast in four pages, in the chapter "Regional development: reducing the distance between regions". The program mentions the word "Northeast" 11 times and "regional development" once.
Flávio Bolsonaro's proposals for the Northeast. — Photo: Kayan Albertin/Arte g1
Lula has six proposals related to the Northeast over four pages, both in the chapter "Regional development" and in other sections of the document that include the region from a national policy perspective. The program mentions "Northeast" three times and "regional development" seven times.
Lula's proposals for the Northeast. — Photo: Kayan Albertin/Arte g1
Samara Martins (UP) has only one proposal directly associated with the Northeast, to protect the Caatinga. The name of the region is mentioned once and there is no mention of "regional development".
Samara Martins' proposal for the Northeast. — Photo: Kayan Albertin/Arte g1
Pablo Marçal (PRTB) and Romeu Zema only briefly mention the term "regional development", while the other five candidates do not mention the term, nor the name of the region.
Pablo Marçal and Romeu Zema have a proposal for regional development. — Photo: Kayan Albertin/Arte g1
Candidates propose specific measures or do not mention the region. — Photo: Kayan Albertin / Arte g1
For political scientist Arthur Leandro, having more pages in the program, or a specific chapter, does not mean, in itself, presenting a better or more feasible regional policy.
"The main comparison criterion is to see if the proposals have financing expectations, execution conditions, coordination between the Union, states and municipalities and the ability to generate jobs, income and lasting gains for the local population", said the expert.
More data centers in the Northeast
The attraction of data centers appears in the proposals of Renan Santos, Ronaldo Caiado and Flávio Bolsonaro for the Northeast. Although with different designs, the three associate these projects with the economic and energy advantages of the region.
Caiado includes the measure within the specific chapter on the Northeast. The proposal combines expansion of renewable energy with industrialization and local employment and envisages attracting efficient data centers, in addition to other clean energy-intensive activities.
Flávio Bolsonaro also directly associates data centers with the availability of solar and wind energy, in the chapter on regional development. The plan intends to use the supply of clean and competitive energy to transform the Northeast into a technology hub and attract data centers to the region.
Renan Santos proposes to make Brazil "the largest exporter of computational inference in the Western Hemisphere, transforming the Northeast, in particular, in Saudi Arabia from Brazil."
Lula also talks about promoting the national chain of data centers, but the proposal is in the chapter on "digital economy", and there is no direct relationship with the region.
National policies for the South, Southeast and Midwest
In general, the Northeast and North/Amazon are presented as territories in which it is necessary to correct inequalities or unlock economic potential. According to economist Tânia Bacelar, Brazil needs to build implicit and explicit policies for these regions.
The implicit ones are those that have a national scope, but dialogue with regional differences. One example is the policy of expanding the supply of higher education, which was greater in the Northeast. Explicit policies are only aimed at selected regions. An example is the Regional Funds for the North, Northeast and Central-West, defined by the 1988 Constituent Assembly.
"Proposals are needed that consider the country's regional heterogeneity in all macroeconomic and sectoral policies to be implemented, alongside regional policies explicitly directed towards the Northeast and North", argues the expert.
The South and Southeast do not receive their own chapters in the programs, but this does not mean that these regions would receive less investment from a possible future government, as the proposals appear as national policies for industry, infrastructure, technology, mining, mobility or energy, among others.
The Central-West is often associated with agribusiness and railway policies, export corridors, storage, irrigation and logistics. For Bacelar, the region is home to a modern and dynamic production base, currently not requiring special treatment.
What the candidates said
g1 sought out all 13 presidential candidates to comment on their proposals for the Northeast. See what those who responded said.
Ronaldo Caiado (PSD)
The Northeast needs policies that allow it to explore the region's full economic potential. The people of the Northeast have been living with the effects of drought for decades and with a mistaken view that the caatinga is synonymous with unproductive land. This is no longer the reality. The Northeast has the capacity to produce, undertake and generate wealth. The challenge is to expand these economic vocations and, mainly, to make this wealth remain in the region.
The region is emerging as a leader in the generation of solar and wind energy in the country and has great potential in agribusiness, industry, technology and tourism. What we need is to transform these advantages into jobs and income for people from the Northeast.
We also know that development does not happen without facing the social demands and historical problems of the Northeast. Water, infrastructure, sanitation and logistics are priorities. And we need to pay special attention to security. The advancement of factions and the territorial dominance of organized crime cannot be naturalized. It is necessary to recover territories, protect the population and guarantee security so that families, workers and entrepreneurs have the freedom to live, work and invest.
With this in mind, we have prepared a government project that seeks to build partnerships with governors, mayors, the productive sector and local institutions to create the Northeast Pact 2030, with structuring projects and clear goals. We will strengthen BNB, FNE and Sudene, directing resources to those who need them most and to initiatives capable of increasing productivity. We will also invest in the education and professional training of young people, connecting schools, federal institutes, universities and companies to vocations in each territory, to prepare people from the Northeast for the jobs of the future and ensure that development opportunities are generated in the region itself.
Samara Martins (UP)
In our party's assessment, it is only possible to develop the regions of Brazil in favor of those who really need it, which are the working class and the people, if political and economic power serves their interests and not the rich and capitalist class. Based on this principle, the UP's socialist program proposes national and structural measures, with the aim of improving the living conditions of all Brazilian working people, which is the vast majority of the country. It is the opposite logic to what happens today, in which public budget resources are mostly directed to bankers and the bourgeoisie. Therefore, by making this inversion in the logic of public investment, workers in regions that historically receive less investment will be prioritized. And this also applies to regions that have historically always been secondary to investment and infrastructure.
One example is the agrarian reform policy. The Northeast region is one of the regions that suffered most from the concentration of land in our country, which dates back to the Portuguese invasion and has never been reversed. Plant owners and landowners (today pompously called agribusiness) took possession of enormous amounts of land and became rich based on this inequality. By developing a profound agrarian reform policy in the region, our program will benefit millions of rural workers and peasants in the Northeast. Let's prioritize investments in peasant agriculture (called family farming), end the harmful practice of monoculture and create conditions for a radical reduction in food prices. This will be possible because food production will prioritize supplying our people, not exports.
Another fundamental measure for the region's development is continuous investment that guarantees free access to Education. With the suspension and audit of the payment of the Public Debt, which drains the budget into bankers' pockets, it will be possible to guarantee the construction of universities, technical schools and primary and secondary education. Furthermore, we will work to guarantee permanence policies for all students who need it.
Added to this, in the first 100 days of government, the implementation of a policy of emergency work fronts, to generate millions of jobs, based on works to improve the infrastructure of the states, such as basic sanitation, construction and maintenance of health centers, schools, universities.
Our goal is for the Northeast region to become a hub for science and technology production and at the same time for food production. Allow conditions to reaffirm itself as one of the main industrial hubs in the country, with qualified labor guaranteed by the public budget and at the same time producer and supplier of quality food for the entire country.
Rui Costa Pimenta (PCO)
The statement that there is a lack of proposals for the region is unfounded. The PCO program applies entirely to the Northeast. It does not appear there as a separate chapter because we do not treat the Northeast as an administrative problem separate from the rest of the country.
The bourgeoisie parties present a regional package at each election: i
