In more than one moment during the interview with Natuza Nery on GloboNews this Wednesday (18), President Lula made it clear that he was enjoying the meeting.
“I’ve got time,” Lula said when the reporter warned that the appointed time was approaching. “You gave us 50 minutes.” In the end, the interview lasted 54 minutes.
At the conclusion of the interview, Natuza noted that he had managed to ask 15 of the 19 questions he had planned. Which prompted Lula to ask, “You can do this.” The President even said, “Let’s do one more show!” To which the journalist remarked, “If you want to talk, we’ll listen.”
For us journalists, critics by nature, the fact that a politician appears in an interview is not a good sign. It seems to say that we haven’t done our job well.
I don’t think that was the case in that first exclusive interview with the President. First, a fundamental question: Several questions from Natuza led to strong statements from Lula.
The President made half a dozen or more surprising or controversial speeches. Lula made it clear how he sees the role of the military in the crisis, the performance of the secret services on the 8th, what he heard from Ministers José Múcio, Bolsonaro, Anderson Torres, CPI, Intervention in the Federal District (contrary to the decree of the GLO ), among other things.
According to this most elementary criterion, there is no repair.
In the economic question block, Natuza asked two good questions one about how to increase revenue without raising taxes, and another about how Lula sees social responsibility and fiscal responsibility as opposites.
After Lula promised to do “real tax reform,” Natuza noted that the president was overly optimistic: “You need the support of Congress for that. Today, what you have as a basis, at least in terms of what has been negotiated. ” , change the constitution.”
He also asked a question about the spending cap, which prompted a controversial response on central bank independence. “It’s foolish to think that an independent central bank governor will do more than the central bank if the governor is who appointed it,” he said.
Someone might say that Lula enjoyed the interview because the questions were easy. Because Natuza didn’t put him against the wall. That this was not the case is shown by the questions on the economy and the likely difficulties in Congress.
I would say that a president who has only been in office 18 days and who has witnessed an attempted coup in the meantime is entitled to a heartfelt conversation. And cordiality is not synonymous with submission or assistance to the respondent.
Natuza was warm without stopping to be tough, sometimes tough. The good climate did not prevent the interview from gaining a lot of unprecedented, important information about the background of the coup act.
Fulfilled the role of informing.