PARANA GOVERNOR REQUIAO TAKES ON THE FEDS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 SAO PAULO 000061 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR WHA/BSC, INR/IAA, INR/B STATE PASS USTR FOR KATE DUCKWORTH NSC FOR TOMASULO TREASURY FOR JHOEK SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD USAID FOR LAC/AA E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PINR KDEM BR SUBJECT: PARANA GOVERNOR REQUIAO TAKES ON THE FEDS REF: 07 SAO PAULO 879 SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED - PLEASE PROTECT ACCORDINGLY ¶1. (SBU) Summary: A dispute between Parana State Governor Roberto Requiao and federal prosecutors and judges has attracted widespread media attention. Prosecutors accused the Governor of using the state's public educational television channel as a vehicle to promote his own political agenda and to disparage his opponents. After a federal appeals judge ordered him to desist, Requiao responded by having technicians mute the sound whenever he spoke and flash CENSORED across his face in large red letters. When the judge then fined him 50,000 Reals (about USD 28,500),Requiao declared himself a "gagged Governor" and accused the courts of violating his freedom of expression. In the course of the controversy, the Governor temporarily pulled the offending program off the air and publicly upbraided the state's Prosecutor General so vociferously that she submitted her resignation. This latest imbroglio is but one in a series of high-profile controversies involving the mercurial and unpredictable Requiao. End Summary. ¶2. (U) Roberto Requiao of the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB) was elected Governor of Parana in 2002, a state of 10.3 million immediately south of Sao Paulo. He was re-elected in 2006 by the razor-thin margin of two tenths of one percent, or about 10,000 votes. During his time in office, he has undertaken a series of populist measures - anti-globalization, anti-privatization, anti-GMO - that have earned him both plaudits and harsh criticism. ¶3. (U) The latest case revolves around a weekly program called "School of Government," which is carried by Educational Radio and Television of Parana (RTVE),the government-funded public broadcasting service. The program is designed as a forum for state employees to share experiences and views on the challenges of public administration and issues facing the government. Requiao has appeared on the show frequently since taking office. Recently, however, he has come to dominate the agenda with his increasingly strident and personal tone. Live and unscripted, he freely expresses his often unconstrained opinion of other politicians, the media, and various government entities, including the judiciary. ¶4. (U) Federal prosecutors charged Requiao in December 2007 with misuse of public resources for personal ends. A district court found for the Governor, but Appeals Judge Edgar Lippmann of the Regional Federal Tribunal found merit in the complaint. The judge declined to pull the program from the airwaves as prosecutors had requested, but he ordered Requiao to stop promoting his personal agenda on the public airwaves. Never one to take criticism sitting down, the Governor appeared on the show the following week but had his voice muted and the word "CENSORED" flashed in large letters across the screen, together with the judge's name, whenever he spoke. Judge Lippmann, not amused, fined the Governor 50,000 Reals, and on January 22, the Association of Federal Judges of Brazil (Ajufe) ordered RTVE to broadcast, every fifteen minutes over a 24-hour period, its note of redress supporting the judge and criticizing the Governor for making a mockery of judicial orders. Requiao, outraged, ordered the station to close down rather than comply. This was when he had his loud confrontation with state Prosecutor-General Jozelia Nogueira Broliani, who was seeking a compromise solution. Shortly after the scene, Broliani submitted her resignation and gave press interviews explaining why. ¶5. (U) Requiao allowed the station back on the air the following day, broadcasting both Ajufe's note and his own response to it. He has cast the controversy in freedom of speech terms. Requiao claims the media dislike him because he cut the state's advertising budget, and that prosecutors and judges have it in for him because he has criticized their high salaries. Some journalism associations have supported the Governor, arguing that the appeals judge and Ajufe went too far in trying to control the program's content. Even the SAO PAULO 00000061 002 OF 003 Parana chapter of the Bar Association, while deploring Requiao's treatment of the Prosecutor General, opined that Ajufe's insistence on the repeated broadcast of its note in support of the judge was disproportionate. ¶6. (U) Eduardo Guimaraes, a municipal official in the state capital, Curitiba, and a long-time Requiao watcher, told Poloff that everyone was in suspense to see what would happen on the next episode of "School of Government," scheduled for Tuesday, January ¶29. It proved to be an anti-climax. Governor Requiao was on official travel - ironically, to Cuba - and Lieutenant Governor Orlando Pesutti took his place and delivered a non-controversial presentation on public works. The Carnaval holiday offers the Governor some time to decide whether he wants to escalate the conflict or let it die. ¶7. (SBU) Consul General (CG) called on Governor Requiao in Curitiba on January 14, in the midst of the controversy. The mercurial Requiao, in good form, quipped that he might get even more political benefit from judicial "censorship" than he is accused of getting from misusing public television. ¶8. (SBU) Governor Requiao is no stranger to controversy and indeed at times appears to welcome it. In 2003, for example, he banned the cultivation and transportation of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) within Parana state borders, essentially diverting large quantities of soy and other agricultural products away from the Port of Paranagua. (Note: The ban was a severe, if temporary, blow to port commercial activity. The Governor's brother, Eduardo Requiao, is the Superintendent of the Administration of the Ports of Paranagua and Antonina. End Note.) The GMO ban was challenged in court and was eventually overturned by the Superior Federal Tribunal (STF). However, the effort made Requico a hero to anti-GMO activists and garnered a great deal of attention, while earning him the enmity of state agricultural and business interests. Per reftel, Requiao has expressed a desire to drive Switzerland-based GMO producer Syngenta Seeds out of the state, and recently blamed the company for a violent confrontation between Landless Movement (MST) militants and private security guards in the company's employ that left two people dead. ¶9. (U) In August 2006, ConGen Sao Paulo was briefly involved in a contretemps with Requiao when portions of then-CG's remarks at the signing of an agreement between U.S. Department of Commerce and Paranagua Port were incorporated out of context in the Governor's televised campaign advertisements. Post was obliged to issue a clarification and insist that the Governor remove the remarks from the campaign ads. ¶10. (SBU) In anotehr episode, the Governor refused to allow concessionaires to raise the tolls on state highways, even though the increases were provided for under the companies' contracts with the state. The previous administration had privatized a number of state roads, but Requiao, who opposes privatization on principle, said the tolls were too high. Again, the concessionaires had to take the state government to court to ensure compliance with the terms of the contract. Since that time, militants from the Landless Movement (MST),besides invading and occupying rural property, periodically attack toll booths, drive the collectors out, let traffic pass for free, and set up stands along the highway to sell their wares, while state police stand by and watch. Many accuse Governor Requiao, an acknowledged MST supporter (reftel),of encouraging these attacks. At the very least, his views encourage MST and anti-GMO activists to count on tepid state law enforcement action to protect property. ¶11. (U) In the aftermath of his confrontation with the federal judiciary, the Governor is facing renewed criticism - and another potential battle with prosecutors - over alleged nepotism. In addition to his brother Eduardo as Ports Superintendent, another SAO PAULO 00000061 003 OF 003 brother, Mauricio Requiao, serves as Secretary of Education. Two of his nephews also serve in state government, and First Lady Maristela Quarenghi de Melo e Silva is president of the Oscar Niemeyer Museum in Curitiba, a state entity that also receives federal and private funds. ¶12. (SBU) Comment: Requiao is a polarizing figure who has been characterized by one long-time political rival as a "PinoChavez," i.e., an authoritarian populist. That said, he is not without his supporters. He has established good relations with the Lula administration and is given credit for obtaining federal funding for the state. Even many of his detractors admit that he works hard and has delivered good government to his state. While some critics claim he is mentally deranged, there appears to be considerable political calculation in his theatrics; in this respect, he sometimes resembles Hugo Chavez, a friend and ally whom he hosted in Curitiba in April 2006. Sao Paulo Federal Police Superintendent Dr. Jaber Makul Hanna Saad, who worked closely for many years with Governor Requiao in Curitiba, told CG in late January that Requiao is considerably better than his rhetoric, although he will "do what is needed" to advance his political fortunes. Governor Requiao briefly sought his party's presidential nomination in 2006 and may be thinking of trying again in 2010. ¶13. (SBU) Comment continued: In this particular instance, the real issue is Requiao's partisan use of what is intended as a neutral public service broadcasting vehicle. Unfortunately, the line between providing information on government activities and purveying political propaganda is not always clear, especially to Brazilian politicians, and Requiao is uniquely susceptible to losing sight of acceptable boundaries. End Comment. WHITE