Brazil off the rails

Convened by the government of France, the Summit for a New Global Financial Compact is taking place in Paris and will feature more than 100 heads of state, more than 40 international organizations and around 120 NGOs and coalitions of NGOs from around the world. The main objective of the meeting is to build a new global consensus around a more inclusive international financial system. The Summit for a New Global Financial Compact will also allow discussions on the conditions necessary to achieve sustainability and reduce poverty through policies and access to financial resources that address climate change, biodiversity loss and environmental degradation.

The hot topic is the unrestrained apology for the environment and amazingly, the Brazilian government promises zero deforestation in the Amazon by 2030, this is because “the trees in Brazil are not from Brazil but from humanity”... “and the government will be very hard for anyone who cuts down a tree in the Amazon to plant soybeans, corn or raise cattle... the Amazon is a sovereign territory of Brazil, but at the same time it belongs to all humanity”.

All very nice, but in practice, is Brazil, a country that has “order and progress” on its flag, fulfilling its slogan?

We live in dark times and it is only worse because our agribusiness continues to thrive, no matter how much some people deny “agribusiness carries Brazil on its shoulders”.

Our agriculture is a very important and vital sector, it keeps the trade balance balanced, brings foreign currency to the country, supports urban employment, the metallurgical, pharmaceutical, veterinary, chemical industries and much more...

The burning question is:

How can some consider this sector an enemy to the country using the environment and monocratic and non-legislative decisions to denigrate it and block its development?

Here we go:

Two years ago, the STF decided to block the Ferrogrão project, which aims to connect the city of Sinop in Mato Grosso to the Port of Miritituba on the banks of the Tapajos River in the State of Pará. The project aims to reduce the cost of transporting the Brazilian grain harvest and make our agriculture more competitive compared to our competitors in Europe and the United States.

The issue is that the construction of the ferrogrão would need to pass through the Jamanxim National Park, which has an area of ​​one million and three hundred thousand hectares and that would need to subtract less than 1% of the park's area to make the construction of this important infrastructure project viable, that is:

The MP contested by a party promoted the extension of the so-called “right of way” of 50 meters on the side of the BR-163 Highway, which originally had 396 hectares and now has 862 — which corresponds to a reduction of 464 hectares of the Park of Jamanxim or, more precisely, 0,054% of its original area of ​​863 thousand hectares. In addition to minimal interference, the MP added an area of ​​51 thousand hectares of preserved forest to the park.

Hence, this party, dissatisfied with the approval of the law, went to the STF with a direct action of unconstitutionality - ADI No. 6553 and immediately received the support of the Federal Public Ministry, which added the party's demands and a study of impacts on 48 indigenous lands along the railroad .

It's an absurd. According to the APROSOJA representative, “when you consider that this product that would leave the railway goes by truck, just the difference in fuel consumption between the road and rail modes ends this argument. It is very surprising that the sector is not listened to, that some States that are crossed by this railway are not listened to, and an arbitrary decision like this is made. “In our view, it should have been a collegial decision, not a monocratic one, and based on much more foundation, much more study of the impact. This type of decision is what has hindered the development of our country, which already has a poor infrastructure that is more than a century out of date when we compare it to the evolution of production”, he continues. “This only harms the country, the affected region and society in general, since you have no option to reduce the cost of transport, and the railway would do that. This cost reaches the end consumer’s pocket when they go to the supermarket to purchase the basic food basket.”

In fact, we are witnessing the “judicialization of governance”, with STF decisions that interfere with the powers of the Executive Branch.

In other words, Brazil in practice, through its judiciary, makes the important project for the country's infrastructure and logistics unfeasible.

The OGNS - non-governmental organizations - which are against the development of Brazil, no longer need to oppose the agricultural mining frontier, just stop them with these actions, the infrastructure, the railway, the waterway, the port and the rest will be unfeasible. And that's what happens abroad in Brazil...

And while Brazil prohibits the construction of 933 km of railways for a strategic area of ​​the economy, such as agribusiness, China builds 4 thousand km of high-speed railways per year and has built more than 38 thousand km of railways in the last 20 years.

China currently places its products on the European market, covering more than 16 thousand km of railways. Meanwhile, disoriented Brazil blocks its infrastructure, as if it were a threat to the environment or indigenous populations, when in fact this infrastructure can to facilitate monitoring of the environment and to protect indigenous populations, in addition to lowering the prices of our food, which is extremely expensive.

Still on China, to close this issue:

The Chinese government announced the 14th Five-Year Plan for railways a while ago.

And let's see:

The current 38 thousand km of railways will increase to 50 thousand km by 2025, which will become 165 thousand km this same year. But Brazil immobilizes its agricultural frontier due to the decision of its large corporations, due to the influence of OGNS that come to Brazil not in search of our good, but in search of “our goods”.

Brazil stops generating currency for our economy, stops generating jobs for our young people, stops generating taxes for Municipalities, States and the Union, stops making investments necessary for our development.

As if the internal problems were not enough to stop Ferrogrão - nothing is so bad that it cannot get worse, Brazil is faced with international pressure against its construction.

A year or so ago, a delegation of international representatives arrived in Brazil to bury the construction of Ferrogrão once and for all, with the help of indigenous organizations, the environment and public figures.

Now we ask:

Would the United States allow foreign figures to prevent the construction of the railroad that linked the Atlantic to the Pacific with the country, back in the 19th century, or would the Chinese government allow foreign figures to disembark in China to prevent them from being 38 thousand km of high-speed railways were made to facilitate the infrastructure of the Chinese economy, or would the Russian, German or even French government allow this type of interference stance by OGNS personalities from foreign institutions in the construction of their infrastructure , we believe not!!!

This happens here because we are disoriented, and the leadership that is part of the power has become disconnected from national strategic interests.

Brazil needs to defend its national interests, corruption is one of the most corrosive issues of our time. It destroys public resources, increases economic and social inequalities, creates discontent and political polarization and reduces trust in institutions. Corruption perpetuates inequality and poverty, impacting well-being and income distribution and undermining opportunities to participate equally in social, economic and political life.

Let's wake up Brazil, the construction of Ferrogrão will help free up the country's corn and soy logistics cycle, we cannot accept this type of agenda, Brazil needs to resume its development.

Ferrogrão is, without a doubt, the most ambitious project in our recent history and has the potential to revolutionize Brazilian logistics, increasing the competitiveness of our product on the global stage.

At the moment, Minister Alexandre de Moraes, of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), authorized at the end of May this year the resumption of studies and administrative processes that could make Ferrogrão viable. The minister also granted the request of the Attorney General's Office (AGU) to present suggestions for resolving the dispute within 60 days. Let's wait...

We need to get Brazil back on track...

By Charlene de Ávila e Neri Perin, lawyers at Neri Perin Advogados Associados (Brasília)