By Ana Mano
SAO PAULO (Reuters) – The mayor of a major Brazilian agribusiness hub is under investigation for telling business leaders they should direct employees to help re-elect far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, according to three people familiar with the case.
The sources said that Santa Catarina state labor prosecutors are running the investigation into Mayor Joao Rodrigues of Chapeco, a hotbed for Brazil’s meatpacking industry.
The mayor’s office directed questions about the case to the municipal attorney general’s office, which said it was unaware of any investigation.
“Gather your employees and direct them. Brazil cannot become a Venezuela. It will not if Bolsonaro remains president,” Rodrigues said in a video seen by Reuters, addressing the local business community before stating his name and title.
Brazil has seen a wave of complaints about Brazilian companies putting illegal political pressure on employees, amid the final stretch of a highly polarized presidential campaign.
There have been 847 such claims against companies this year, up from 212 in 2018, according to nationwide data compiled by labor prosecutors in Brasilia. Electoral law prohibits Brazilians from promising benefits or making threats to steer votes toward or away from a particular candidate.
One of the sources familiar with the Rodrigues case, who requested anonymity to speak freely, said it was triggered by the undated video in which he refers to the Oct. 30 runoff vote between Bolsonaro and leftist challenger Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
“With Lula as president, we are going to face a very serious crisis,” Rodrigues says in the video, warning entrepreneurs of Lula’s plans to raise taxes and boost social programs. “He is not worried about Brazilian industry. He is worried about fulfilling his mission to deliver what he promised, which is a socialist country.”
In the final moments of the 55-second video, Rodrigues tells business leaders “to get to work.”
(Reporting by Ana Mano; Editing by Brad Haynes and Rosalba O’Brien)
