September 4, 2021

16:09

Luís Henrique Oliveira – from Cenarium Magazine

MANAUS – Senator Eduardo Braga (MDB/AM) used your social networks on Saturday, 4, to publish a material of almost six months ago of an increase in the Circulation of Goods and Services Tax (ICMS) in diesel, as if it were current, and simulate criticism to the Government of Amazonas. Braga is a likely candidate for the government of the same state in the 2022 elections, and puts himself as opposition to the governor of Amazonas, Wilson Lima (PSC).

In today’s post, Braga inserted a printout from an Amazon portal, d24am, which was published on March 30, 2021, and deals with a public hearing to debate the price of diesel in the state. The change in the tax calculation basis occurred, at the time, throughout Brazil, given an understanding of the National Council of Finance Policy (Confaz).

Shortly after the publication of the MDB senator, the governor of Amazonas replied to the post on his Twitter account. “It is a false and vicious statement made by Senator Eduardo Braga and the newspaper linked to his family about ICMS diesel increase (in Amazonas)”, said Lima.

The governor also restated that Amazonas dismisses tax readjustments in the period in which Brazil goes through consecutive monthly inflation records. “There will not be any increase in the tax rate in my government”, he promised.

Wilson Lima also pointed out Eduardo Braga’s tactic in seeking unorthodox means to reach power, using one of the main dramas of the country, currently, related, mainly, to the national economic policy.

“The population of Amazonas knows well Eduardo Braga and his truculent and lying methods, which he uses with the objective of trying to deceive people”, concludes the post, the governor of Amazonas.

Lowest rate

The state of Amazonas has one of the lowest ICMS rates in Brazil, according to the national and specialized website “Valor Econômico”. The communication vehicle reported that the Amazonas state government maintains one of the lowest ICMS rates in the country, with only 25% on fuel prices.

Besides Amazonas, Amapá, Roraima, Acre and Mato Grosso, which are part of the Legal Amazon, kept the same percentage, according to Valor.

According to information from the National Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels Agency (ANP) and the Ministry of Mines and Energy, in April 2021, the participation of the price charged by Petrobras is higher than the ICMS percentage, which reaches almost 40%. In turn, the ICMS on fuel in the Amazon represents 20% of the tax collection.

Experts point out that the price of gasoline has not been affected exclusively by the ICMS, as Braga said, but by the price charged by Petrobras, as already reported nationally.

Fake news is a crime

Producing and spreading fake news is a crime, according to article 9, of Resolution 23.610/2019, of the Superior Electoral Court (TSE). The article says that the use of disseminated content, including by third parties.

Professor Jaime Barreiros, PhD in Social Sciences and judicial analyst at the Regional Electoral Court of Bahia (TRE-BA), considers it serious, when the false news comes from representatives of the people, such as lawmakers and senators.

“It is fundamental that our political representatives, in the various spheres of the Executive and Legislative branches, have this responsibility, this awareness of not spreading fake news”, he said.

He warned that when it comes time to get informed, the citizen should take into account official and reliable sources and not believe at first what is shared on social networks.

AM’s Hope

This year, Eduardo Braga increased his strategies to return to the Government of Amazonas. Last month, he used his cabinet staff and the release of public resources to make a kind of disguised electoral campaign, during a trip to Silves (200 kilometers from Manaus), a little over a month ago.

At the time, the emedbist even declared himself as the “hope of the Amazon”. Jurists consulted by CENARIUM evaluated that the senator’s conduct compromises the equal dispute for the command of the Executive in the next election, since not all government candidates have the same structure and time anticipation to launch themselves to the voter.