March 24, 2022

08:03

Gabriel Abreu and Priscilla Peixoto – Cenarium Magazine

MANAUS – The former superintendent of the Federal Police of Amazonas, Alexandre Saraiva, spoke for the first time about his pre-candidacy for the House of Representatives. The federal delegate joined on Monday, 21, the Brazilian Socialist Party (PSB). In an exclusive interview to CENARIUM MAGAZINE, he highlighted that he intends to act in defense of the Amazon, of the interference of the federal government in the PF, in the motivation to talk about the Amazon forest in the most populous region of the country.

Saraiva suffered retaliation after filing a criminal complaint against former Environment Minister Ricardo Salles of interfering and obstructing investigation of Operation ‘Handronthus GLO’. Six days after the complaint was filed against Salles, the federal government changed the Superintendence of the Federal Police in Amazonas; at the time, delegate Leandro Almada da Costa replaced Saraiva. Currently, the delegate works at the Federal Police, in Volta Redonda, in Rio de Janeiro.

“I worked for 10 years in the Amazon and have been in the Federal Police for 18 years. So, I think I’ve seen a lot of things, I’ve been around Brazil a lot, and I think that this experience of mine will be much more useful to the country, in the Parliament, if I am confirmed as a candidate, because I think that we, from the southeast, have to defend the Amazon, to defend the Amazon is also to defend the population that lives in the States of the Legal Amazon”, emphasizes the delegate who also highlights that he will never forget the Amazon.

“It’s no use defending the Environment, forgetting that there are millions of Brazilians who live in the Amazon and have to earn their living, the economy has to grow in the same way as in the Southeast. So if I leave [as a federal lawmaker] for Rio de Janeiro, I will never forget the Amazon”, declares Saraiva.

Option for Rio

Asked why he chose to run for Rio de Janeiro and not for Amazonas, the delegate answered that it was because of his family and because people who live in the southeast have a broader view of the world’s largest tropical forest.

“Being a lawmaker for Rio I have the possibility to make the people and the Brazilian citizens of the Southeast aware of the reality of the Amazon, because it is very easy to stay here talking about an abstract vision of the Amazon, of our reality, and it is very easy to criticize and demand solutions that will penalize the people and will not protect the environment. The two things have to go together, the environment and economic growth, quality of life and HDI, if we don’t preserve the human being, we can’t preserve the environment”, said the delegate.

Passion for the Amazon

Saraiva said he is passionate about the Amazon and that he misses working in the region, which has been suffering a lot from deforestation and fires. According to Imazon, deforestation in the Amazon hit another record in February. The forest lost an area the size of the city of Fortaleza – almost 70% more than February 2021. These are the highest numbers for the month in the last 15 years.

“The Amazon is in my blood. I am already suffering from Amazon withdrawal, an immense longing. And I think that the Amazon has been suffering a lot, for a long time, and it has intensified in an unbridled way now. Recently I read an article, in Cenarium, about people from Santarém being contaminated with mercury in their blood, it’s absurd, this should be a scandal, until when we will allow this, are the miners generating wealth or are they generating disease, are they generating environmental destruction, in fact, they are destroying wealth, not producing wealth”, he says.

Agendas and contribution

Another motivation highlighted by Saraiva for making the decision to run as a pre-candidate was the will to serve the country, although he considers this a “sacrifice”. The former superintendent reveals that he must, as a citizen, contribute in the best way to the progress of society.

“I have always rejected this idea of entering politics. I like what I do very much, but I think that one should ask oneself, as a citizen, is where and how can I contribute to the improvement of my country? For me, it is a sacrifice to do this, I confess. I could stay here conducting my inquiries with a much better quality of life, but I wouldn’t sleep peacefully at night knowing that I can do better and more so that people can have a better quality of life than they have today”, he says.

The delegate also comments on the political interference suffered by the Federal Police during the first year in office of President Jair Bolsonaro. According to Saraiva, in an eventual administration, in the Federal House of Representatives, the fight against this practice will be one of the guidelines defended by him.

“It is an agenda that is very dear to me. There are laws that give guarantees and protection as a shield for magistrates and prosecutors, the police have none of this, so we need to regulate, by law, guarantees not only for police officers, but also, for example, for Ibama inspectors, environmental and federal agencies that are heroes, exposing themselves without any guarantee”, Alexandre Saraiva points out.

Party Choice

Behind the political scenes there was speculation that the pre-candidate was going to join the Green Party (PV), but the choice of joining the PSB prevailed.

About the so-called “Bullet Caucus”, (term used to refer to the parliamentary front composed of politicians who defend civilian armament, flexibility of laws related to weapons and against disarmament policies) and defender of public policies of the Bolsonaro government, the delegate points out that whatever the government, he will maintain the position he defends. For Alexandre, arming the population is not the best solution as a public safety policy. Except in exceptional cases, the measure cannot be vulgarized.

Environmental policies

When it comes to public policies for the Environment, Saraiva affirms that there is no will for an effective improvement for the theme. The former superintendent criticizes the worsening of deforestation in the last two years.

“The environmental policies in Brazil have been wrong for years and if we take the numbers of the advance of deforestation we can see that several governments have passed and the Amazon has been destroyed for a long time. Of course, in the last few years it has gotten worse and although we have technology that would allow us to solve the problem, there is no political will for this to happen”, he highlights.

The pre-candidate to the House of Representatives reinforces that the main intention is to serve Brazil in the best way possible. To Alexandre, the obligation of all public servants is the same, to contribute to the good of the whole, “the name is servant and people forget that, whether in the police or out of the police, each one, within their duties, can help towards a better country”, he concludes.