New president of Embratur, Freixo wants partnerships with ministers

Chosen to be the president of the Brazilian Agency for the International Promotion of Tourism (Embratur) in the third Lula administration, Marcelo Freixo shows a sharp speech of course change. The objective, according to him, is to show a new Brazil, with new priorities after four years of Jair Bolsonaro’s government. According to him, encouraging tourism will involve building the image of a Brazil “of dialogue, democracy and the fight against hunger”. “The image of Brazil abroad is the image of another Brazil. It is a Brazil of science, dialogue, democracy, education, the fight against hunger. This is the image of Brazil that we want to present to the world and invite people to get to know Brazil”, said Freixo, upon arriving for Lula’s inauguration in the National Congress. He also showed interest in dialoguing with the top government levels, in the various ministries, in the search for policies that favor tourism. Freixo named the Ministries of Sport, Justice and the Environment as potential partners. “The environmental issue is decisive. There is a vector of tourism today which is climate tourism. Only Brazil has the Amazon. So we manage to bring people, generate jobs, generate preservation of the Amazon with more resources”. For Sports, Freixo is thinking of a sports agenda, built with Minister Ana Moser, with activities throughout the year. The idea is to stimulate, in addition to tourism, the generation of jobs. Regarding Flávio Dino, Minister of Justice, he indicated a partnership to improve the safety of tourists, especially women. “Brazil is the second riskiest country for women to travel alone. This we have to win, this is a shame. So, having policing aimed at the safety of women who might visit Brazil. There are a lot of projects, a lot of things and the partnership with all the ministries will be fundamental”. He also affirmed his collaboration with the Minister of Justice in the construction of policies against violence in Rio de Janeiro. Freixo has recognized his longstanding struggle against state militias. “Dino is my long time friend. Everything that I could help Dino in this process, both in setting up the Federal Police, I helped. And I will continue helping, because I have many years in my life dedicated to this topic and I will always be willing to help, even more so with Dino at the head of this very important ministry.

Agência Brasil