We send 100 and receive 10. That's always been Santa Catarina's loss.
Jorginho Mello (PL) estava em reunião do Consórcio Integrado do Sul e Sudeste no Espírito Santo durante inauguração do Contorno Viário em Florianópolis. Lula criticou ausência do governador, afirmando que perdeu oportunidade importante; Mello rebateu dizendo que Santa Catarina recebe pouco do governo federal.
- Jorginho Mello (PL) was attending the 11th Cosud meeting in Espírito Santo on August 9, 2024
- The Contorno Viário highway project in Florianópolis was inaugurated without the governor present
- Vice-governor Marilisa Boehm represented Mello at the ceremony
- Lula publicly criticized Mello's absence; Mello responded that Santa Catarina receives disproportionately little federal funding
Governador de Santa Catarina justifica ausência em evento de Lula ao priorizar reunião do Cosud, gerando tensão política entre aliado de Bolsonaro e presidente petista.
On Friday, August 9th, the governor of Santa Catarina fired back at the president over a missed ceremony. Jorginho Mello, a member of the far-right PL party and ally of Jair Bolsonaro, had skipped the inauguration of the Contorno Viário—a major highway project that rings the greater Florianópolis area. Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the leftist president, had noticed the absence and said so publicly, expressing bewilderment that Mello would pass up what he called the most important infrastructure event in the state.
Mello's explanation was straightforward: he had been in Espírito Santo attending the 11th meeting of Cosud, the Integrated Consortium of the South and Southeast, a gathering of regional governors. He had committed to that engagement beforehand, he said, and his vice-governor, Marilisa Boehm, had represented him at the highway opening. "I had a commitment with the other governors at Cosud," Mello told reporters. "There was a debate about a constitutional amendment on public security. The vice-governor went in my place."
Lula had made a point of inviting Mello to the event, extending what appeared to be an olive branch to a political opponent. At the ceremony, the president acknowledged that he did not know Mello well enough to speak ill of him, but he could not hide his disappointment. "He lost the opportunity to participate in the inauguration of the most important work in the State of Santa Catarina," Lula said. The president suggested that Mello would have been treated with respect, allowed to speak freely, and that his absence reflected small thinking. "There are people who think small. There are people who act small and do not see the needs of the Brazilian people," Lula remarked.
Mello's response carried a note of frustration beneath the courtesy. He said he did not want to be disrespectful, but he pushed back on the implicit criticism. "That's his problem," Mello said. He then pivoted to a broader grievance: Santa Catarina, he argued, has long been shortchanged by the federal government. "We send 100 and receive 10," he said, describing a pattern of fiscal imbalance that has plagued the state regardless of which party holds power in Brasília. He framed his own conduct as respectful toward the federal government, even as he aired this complaint.
The exchange laid bare a tension that runs through Brazilian federalism—the relationship between a leftist federal administration and a right-wing state governor who has no political incentive to align with the president. Lula had extended an invitation as a gesture of inclusion; Mello had declined it in favor of a prior commitment to his peers. Neither man was wrong, exactly, but the collision of their schedules became a collision of political messages. Lula saw a snub. Mello saw a necessary choice between competing obligations. The question of who was right depended largely on which side of the political divide one occupied.
Citações Notáveis
I had a commitment with the other governors at Cosud, and there was a debate about a constitutional amendment on public security.— Jorginho Mello, explaining his absence
He lost the opportunity to participate in the inauguration of the most important work in the State of Santa Catarina.— Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, at the ceremony
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
Why did Mello skip the ceremony in the first place? Was the Cosud meeting truly unavoidable?
He says he had already committed to it—a gathering of regional governors to discuss public security policy. It's the kind of thing you don't cancel lightly. But the timing was unfortunate, and Lula clearly felt the absence.
Did Lula actually expect Mello to show up, or was this partly theater?
Lula extended an invitation, which suggests he hoped for it. But he's also a seasoned politician. He may have anticipated the snub and used it to make a point about Mello's priorities—or about what he sees as small-minded governance.
What's the real issue underneath this?
Santa Catarina feels neglected by Brasília. Mello brought that up directly—the state sends far more to the federal government than it receives back. That's a structural complaint, not personal. But it colors everything.
Is this a one-time spat or a sign of deeper trouble?
It's a symptom. A leftist president and a right-wing governor have no natural alliance. When they collide over something like this, it exposes how little political capital exists between them.
Could this affect federal funding to Santa Catarina?
That's the unspoken worry. Mello tried to be respectful, but he also made clear he's keeping score. The relationship is transactional, and moments like this test whether it can hold.