Ministers in the Lula government use the jets of the Brazilian Air Force (FAB) spend the weekend in their constituencies. In addition, they also prefer official aircraft for traveling abroad. This emerges from a survey by the blog of Lúcio Vaz of Gazeta do Povo, published on Thursday 15th. The data also shows 35 secret flights by Supreme Court (STF) ministers.
According to the data, the champion of Spree On domestic flights, Justice Minister Flávio Dino, who has used FAB jets 46 times, is more than half off to spend the weekend in São Luís. Finance Minister Fernando Haddad operated 30 flights all to São Paulo.
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As for the flights operated by Haddad, out of the 14 flights from Brasilia to São Paulo, 11 were on Thursday or Friday. On the reverse route, 14 of the 16 flights took place on Mondays or Tuesdays. The newspaper points out that ministers are not allowed to use official aircraft for trips home or for private purposes.
Therefore, in the data provided by the government, there is always an official obligation in the destination state associated with the trip. In Haddad’s case, it’s attending events, openings, and interviews. In the case of Dino, however, the blog reports that the Justice Minister operated 12 flights to São Luís over weekends without an official timetable.
Former Mayor of São Bernardo do Campo, Minister of Labor and Employment Luiz Marinho operated 28 flights in FAB jets, 20 of them to São Paulo. Mines and Energy Minister Alexandre Silveira made 22 flights, nine of them to Minas, the state for which he was deputy and senator.
International flights by Lula’s ministers on FAB planes
Tourism Minister Daniela Carneiro made two trips abroad in May, one to Punta Cana (Dominican Republic) and another to Havana (Cuba) to attend meetings with tourism ministers. She flew 134 hours in FAB jets. However, the person who traveled abroad the most was Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira. He’s been to nine cities in eight countries.
secret flights
The survey published by Gazeta shows that ministers of the Federal Court of Justice (STF) have conducted 35 secret flights so far the name of the passenger is not registered. There was only one passenger on 28 flights and two passengers on the other seven flights. Almost all flights went to São Paulo only one went to Belo Horizonte.
According to an investigation by Lúcio Vaz’s blog, the STF ministers received authorization from the Ministry of Defense to use official flights. The reason would be to avoid nuisance at airports. According to the report, on April 27 there was also a flight from Brasília to São Paulo “at the disposal of the Ministry of Defense”, with 12 passengers. Among them were Ministers Alexandre de Moraes and Ricardo Lewandowski.
The regulation of the use of official aircraft is contained in Decree 10.267/2020. Ministers of state and military commanders are authorized to use official aircraft for reasons of duty, sickness or safety. But only the Presidents of the Senate, House and STF and the Vice President can travel to their homes in FAB jets. A loophole in the law allows the secretary of defense to authorize flights by other national or foreign agencies.