BRASÍLIA: Political convulsions in Brazil are taking a toll on the port sector, forcing the resignation of Ports Minister Helder Barbalho mere months after he assumed the position. The resignation means Brazil will have a fifth port minister in less than five years and comes as the country is in the middle of a 10-billion-reais ($2.9 billion) port concession effort. It had seemed that Barbalho, and other members of the PMDB party in critical government posts, would stay on even as the party led an impeachment effort against President Dilma Rousseff of the PT Worker’s party.
Previously, Michel Temer, the leader of the PMDB, had said that ministers such as Barbalho would not face expulsion from the party, but as the debate on impeachment has grown more rancorous that has changed and Temer threatened to kick out of the party those who remained in the government or voted against impeachment in congress.
Barbalho, who had wanted to stay on in the post to oversee the 2.8-billion-reais concession of six terminals in the state of Para, his family’s power base, will be replaced by Mauricio Muniz Barreto de Carvalho. “He was reluctant to resign, but the PMDB are always in power one way or another and so to secure his future political career he had to stick with the PMDB and therefore he had to resign,” said one Brasilia insider. After a sluggish start as Special Ports Minister back in October, Barbalho had started to earn the respect of the port community and he made it clear he wanted to stay in the post, which insiders say he was revelling in despite the huge challenges.
