Romeu Zema

Last updated
Zema on a speech during a visit to a Usiminas factory in Ipatinga, in August 2020 26 08 2020 Cerimonia de Retomada do Alto-forno 1 da Usina de Ipatinga Usiminas (50271776466).jpg
Zema on a speech during a visit to a Usiminas factory in Ipatinga, in August 2020

After the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic, Zema issued lockdown orders that were criticised by NOVO's national directory, who claimed that the measures "negatively affected business". [36]

In later 2020, the underreporting of COVID cases in Minas Gerais was criticized by the press. Zema stated that tests for COVID-19 were "just to satisfy the curiosity of researchers, while not assisting in public health". Despite the presence of underreporting, this was a trend throughout Brazil due to an increase in cases of Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). In September 2020, Minas Gerais was considered the state with the lowest rate of deaths per inhabitant in Brazil. [37]

In 2021 it was reported that Zema's government was under investigation by Augusto Aras, the Attorney General of Brazil, for its handling of state PPE purchases that may have benefited certain companies rather than achieving the lowest price. Zema denied any wrongdoing. [38]

Damage after the collapse of the Brumadinho Dam in 2019 Brumadinho, Minas Gerais (40109064403).jpg
Damage after the collapse of the Brumadinho Dam in 2019

Response to the Brumadinho dam disaster

On 25 January 2019, a dam operated by Vale S.A. in the municipality of Brumadinho collapsed, killing at least 259 people.

In 2021, the Zema government closed an agreement with Vale S.A. for the damage caused by the dam's rupture, in which the company will pay the State 37.68 billion reais; [39] the money was set to be used in infrastructure works for the affected region. The Movement of People Affected by Dams organized a protest against the agreement, which the group considered unfair, [40] while other actors welcomed the speed of the process. [41]

2022 election

Campaign

Platform

Before the election, Zema Released the following platform. [9]

  • Construction and operation of regional hospitals through concession and public-private partnerships
  • Expansion of the free offer of technical and integral education courses
  • Reform of state schools, with the acquisition of equipment and furniture
  • Integration actions between the police and integration of public security information bases
  • Expansion of the digital duty to ensure full-time police assistance
  • Expansion of concession programs and public-private partnerships, including for the operation of highways, airports and metropolitan transport, and privatization of state-owned companies
  • Creation of a state fund for the granting of credits to family farmers
  • Incentives for clean energy and the use of non-fossil fuels
  • Expansion of the concessions program for managing parks and conservation units
  • Providing vocational education courses for youth and adults in poverty
  • Granting of credit, paid for by the state, to cover urgent housing demands

Victory

Zema retained high levels of popularity throughout his first term, never dipping below 40% while much of the population. This led to a tough challenge that his two main opponents Alexandre Kalil and Carlos Viana failed to meet. [42]

Zema only attended some of the debates and pointed to differing forms of misinformation in his campaign while maintaining a form of neutrality in the first round of the presidential elections, barely interacting with his party's nominee Felipe D'Avila, given one of his opponents was from Bolsonaro's party. [43] [44]

Zema with Bolsonaro at the Usiminas factory in Ipatinga in 2020 26 08 2020 Cerimonia de Retomada do Alto-forno 1 da Usina de Ipatinga Usiminas (50271776206).jpg
Zema with Bolsonaro at the Usiminas factory in Ipatinga in 2020

Kalil's alliance with the PT, did little to sway Lulazema voters, who split their ballots between the right and left. [45]

Zema was reelected in the first round, avoiding a distracting second round, but failed to achieve the landslide he had achieved in 2018, winning 56.18% of the vote, for the first time forming a coalition for his re-election.

Support for Bolsonaro

While Zema officially supported Felipe D'Avila, his party's nominee in the first round, he made no secret his support for Bolsonaro in the second, endorsing him just days after the first vote.

While he promised to corral support, along with Claudio Castro, he seemed to be making lackluster efforts, more trying to build a national profile in 2026. While he got some mayors, he has already begun distancing himself according to some, who think that Zema expects Bolsonaro to lose. [46]

Controversies

Comments on domestic violence

On March 9, 2020, during the launch of a state government program to support victims of domestic violence, Zema referred to domestic violence as “a natural instinct of human beings.” [47]

Comments on Brazil's regions

On August 6, 2023, Zema discussed the divide between Brazil's North and Northeast with its South, Southeast, and West with the newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo. In the interview, Zema said:

Other regions of Brazil, with states that are much smaller in terms of economy and population, unite and manage to vote and approve a series of projects in Brasília. And we, who represent 56% of Brazilians, but who are always on our own, looking only your backyard, we lost. It was clear in this tax reform that we have already started to show our weight ... We also need social actions. So will the South and Southeast continue to collect much more than they receive in return? This cannot be intensified, year by year, decade by decade. If not, you will fall into that story, the rural producer who only starts giving good treatment to the cows that produce little and leaves aside those that are producing a lot. Soon the ones that produce a lot will start to demand the same treatment. It is necessary to treat everyone the same way.

Romeu Zema, O Estado de S.Paulo

Zema was denounced by left-wing politicians across Brazil and even by allies from the Northeast. Gilson Machado, a minister in the Bolsonaro cabinet, said that he "vehemently repudiate[s] any speech that even ventilates the separation of our country." [48]

Marina Silva, the Minister of the Environment said that "without the Amazon, there is no way to have agriculture, there is no way to have industry, there is no way for Brazil to even have life in the South, Southeast and Midwest, because science says it would be a desert like the Atacama or Sahara deserts. Therefore, it is not a matter of quantity in terms of population weight, it is a matter of working with the principle of environmental justice and the GDP of the ecosystem services that are generated by this region." [48]

Others took a stronger stance, like Flávio Dino, the Minister of Justice, who said that Zema is "a traitor to the Constitution [and thus] is a traitor to the homeland." [48]

Other politicians like Eduardo Leite, the Governor of Rio Grande do Sul, initially supported Zema, who after critiscm stated "We will all be stronger the more we are one Brazil. I do not believe that Governor Zema has said anything different from that. If he said it, he does not represent me. We never thought until today that the states of the North and Northeast had united against the other states of the country. On the contrary, the union of these states around the agenda that is of common interest to them served as a inspiration so that we can finally do the same. It has nothing to do with a front of States against States or region against region." [48]

Zema himself said after the outcry that "the union of the South and Southeast will never be to diminish other regions. It is not to be against anyone, but in favor of joining efforts. Dialogue and management are fundamental for the country to have more opportunities. The distortion of facts causes division, but the strength of the Brazil is at work in unity." [48]

Alleged government impropriety

As part of its lawsuit calling for the invalidation of Zema's candidacy, the far-right Brazilian Woman's Party accused Zema of using the government secretariat to invite the party to join his electoral coalition. [49]

Charles Soares de Sousa, the Zema-appointed superintendent of the Minas Gerais Supram, intervened to cancel a fine against Gute Schit, a mining company linked to a consulting firm Sousa had provided services for. [50]

Personal life

Zema was married to Ivana Scarpellini and had two children, Catharina and Domenico. They are divorced. [14]

Romeu Zema also has Italian citizenship, [51] however, in 2019, his Italian passport was revoked amid an investigation that revealed fraud in the issuance of documents by several Brazilians. Finally, the citizenship, having been finalized and reapproved, was granted, amid critisicms of dual loyalties. [52]

Election history

Romeu Zema
Pacto federativo e prioridade dos estados e DF em encontro com presidente (cropped).jpg
Zema in 2023
Governor of Minas Gerais
Assumed office
1 January 2023
YearElectionPartyOfficeCoalitionPartnerPartyVotes%ResultRef.
2018 Minas Gerais State Elections NOVO Governor NonePaulo Brant NOVO 4,138,96742.73%Second Round
6,963,80671.80%Elected
2022 Minas on the Tracks

(NOVO, Avante, PP, SD, PODE, Patriota, PMN, MDB, DC, Agir)

Mateus Simões6,094,13656.20%Elected

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References

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Political offices
Preceded by Governor of Minas Gerais
2019−present
Incumbent