Fellow ministers, in fact, only Vladimir and my dear president of Caixa, Carlos Vieira, remain. Mr. President, I think today is a very important day, because I was here at the beginning of May, Governor, we had a general review meeting of the FIR, of the federal government's actions in Rio Grande do Sul. And today we will have the opportunity to release other lots of works to protect the Porto Alegre metropolitan region from new situations so that what happened in 2024 doesn't happen again. I think this moment is very important. It's raining, there was hail, Eloninho is knocking on our door, and these works are fundamental so that cities can be resilient and protect themselves from climate change, which some flat-earthers think doesn't exist, but it's here, and we need to adapt our cities to these circumstances. Mr. President, I'm going to give a brief, concise presentation of the support that the federal government gave to Rio Grande do Sul during that fateful May, June, and July—at least, it continued a little longer, but at least May, June, and July of 2024— and talk about the projects that will be released today. So, uh, to start, we invested, okay? Here, I'll even stand up to look at the screen, it'll be easier for me. Uh, we invested here in Rio Grande do Sul. Uh, thank you. We invested nearly R$90 billion from the federal budget and financing, of which 94% has already been spent. Furthermore, with the exemption of interest on the debt stock of Rio Grande do Sul, almost 28 billion more were made available. And it's a deposit of 15.1 billion, also due to the debt negotiation, which was deposited in the Rio Grande Plan fund, which is Funrigs, precisely to carry out other reconstruction and adaptation works. Okay, let's gather some basic data on the federal resources used here to support the people of Rio Grande do Sul, right? Regarding aid and reconstruction for 5,100 families so they could replace furniture and household items in their homes, we assisted 430,000 families with a total of R$ 2.2 billion. Well, regarding housing, there are 24,200. I think that's what gives us the number here. Yes, Mr. President, we managed to do this through assisted purchasing, so we can more quickly help the families who lost their homes. The person chooses the house within that amount of R$ 200,000. Well, 13,900 families were assisted, which amounts to a total of 2.7 billion. And I don't have the number of cities here, I do n't know if Vladimir has it, he 'll look it up in his material. Furthermore, Mr. President, there's one issue that we were n't able to resolve with the assisted purchase process. We are building the unit, almost 10,000 more units worth 1.7 billion, to be able to serve everyone here, all the people from Rio Grande do Sul who lost their homes. Yes, support for businesses and rural producers. We supported 55,000 companies in Rio Grande do Sul, reaching a total financing amount of 22 billion reais so they could recover their market share and have working capital to resume production. And in the case of rural credit, rebates and credit were given to 151,000 rural producers in the amount of R$ 12 billion. Well, the recovery of social infrastructure, education, health and assistance resulted in just over R$2 billion in health to rebuild or renovate health centers, hospitals, to replace equipment that was rendered unusable by the rains, and also transfers for that more immediate care, another R$1.5 billion in education to renovate and rebuild schools, replace furniture, books, in short, direct money to schools to clean all the schools. It was almost R$0 million more. The same goes for social assistance; it's resources for firefighting, emergency assistance, and also the renovation of the CRAS (Social Assistance Reference Centers) that were affected during the flood, almost R$191 million. Regarding Civil Defense, we had R$ 1.600 million in 274 municipalities. Of those 719 million, 706 million is for reconstruction, 706 million for restoration, and 160 million for humanitarian assistance, the most immediate kind. Well, focusing on the reconstruction aspect, with this resource of over 700 million, we can rehabilitate 730 bridges, 570 roads (where you rehabilitate the road and do paving), and 118 drainage and containment works using Civil Defense resources. Well, I'm going to make a digression here because it relates to the support of the federal government for the people of Rio Grande do Sul, which is what we've been doing in the new PAC (Growth Acceleration Program), right? So, the federal government allocated a new PAC (Growth Acceleration Program) of R$45.3 billion to Rio Grande do Sul , of which almost R$9 billion will be completed by 2026, with some of the projects extending beyond the end of the president's term . Of those 45 billion, 99% has already been spent. And these resources from the new PAC serve 97% of the municipalities in the state that either had a project or equipment acquired through the new PAC. So, only those that are blank, except obviously Alagoa, right? But only those with blank pages did not receive it. Well, 3% of municipalities in Rio Grande do Sul did not receive any PAC funds. Here in the "Minha Casa, Minha Vida" program, the PAC (Growth Acceleration Program) contracted 175,000 housing units and delivered almost 156,000. Here we have a photo of a development in Rio Grande with almost 13 residential units combined. Well, in the health sector there are 221 projects for basic health units, polyclinics, hospitals, and various other facilities, plus 364 vehicles, ambulances, and other vehicles. Yes, and 16 pieces of equipment, both for hospitals and for primary health care units/polyclinics. Here we have the example of two primary health care units: Distância Velha and Floriano Peixoto, and the University Hospital of the Federal University of Pelotas, which is under construction. Regarding the highway, it's almost R$ 10 billion, uh, almost 350 km of dual carriageways, with examples such as the duplication of the BR290 between Aedes and Pantano Grande. 116. Here is a section in the area near Novo Hamburgo, the duplication of the BR-386 and one already completed, which is the duplication of the BR-386 from Soledade to Fontoura Xavier. Regarding education, there are 175 daycare centers and 115 schools, representing 66,000 places in two shifts here in Rio Grande do Sul, meaning 66,000 children, students who will have classes in two shifts. Here are several examples of elementary schools in Araricá and Mostardas, and preschools in Caibaté and Cambará do Sul. And there are also federal institutes here, right? We have over 100 new campuses across the country, 113 if I'm not mistaken . Here in Rio Grande do Sul, eight new graves have become available . Here we have all eight of these marked on the map of Rio Grande do Sul , right? São Luís Gonzaga, Gramado, Santa Maria, São Leopoldo, Porto Alegre, Caçapava do Sul, Triunfo, and Rosário do Sul. Thank you, Governor. This is the building of the Federal Institute of Viamão, the weather seems to be clearing up, we'll be able to get there today, at least there's no rain. Well, another fundamental element for the development of the country and of Rio Grande do Sul is the revival of the shipbuilding industry in the country, which has been completely abandoned. The government and Petrobras have an order for nine ships at the shipyard in Rio Grande. It's almost R$4 billion that completely restarted the shipyard that had been paralyzed here in Rio Grande do Sul. If we look here, it's not just Rio Grande do Sul, but the entire southern region, the number of jobs in the shipbuilding industry. We reached 24,000 jobs in the shipbuilding industry in 2013-2014, then it fell to less than 2,000 in the period before the president's government, and now we've reached half of those jobs here in the South. In Brazil as a whole, we reached 82,000 jobs in 2013-14, and now we're at around 75,000. We have almost completely revived the shipbuilding industry in the country, which is fundamental to our independence and sovereignty. Finally, Mr. President and Governor, the resources from FIRES, right? So, as I think everyone here knows, uh, the federal government, based on discussions here with Minister Pimenta at the time, who was the extraordinary minister, uh, to oversee the recovery of Rio Grande do Sul in a negotiation with the state government, we decided uh to create a fund uh, into which the federal government already deposited R$ 6 billion in December 2024, to guarantee uh works for the recovery and expansion of the metropolitan system for protection against the rains. That's why there's so much rain, right? Because rain is always good. This involves the Gravataí, Sinos, Caí, and Arroz e Feijó river basins, serving 15 municipalities in the metropolitan region, as well as the state and municipalities, and with the responsibility of developing the projects or preliminary plans so that these works can move forward. So, in May, when we were here, we approved the work in São Leopoldo, the canalization of Dick 905, which is that little yellow ball up there, and which is already under construction, right? And today, we are going to authorize Porto Alegre and Audourado do Sul to put these projects out to tender. First , in Porto Alegre, uh, Polder 10, there are 178 million, which are located in Gravataí, more or less near the airport, in the case of Eldorado do Sul, the protection system worth 1 billion reais that is here, Eldorado. Of that 730 million, some will come from FIR. Since the project ended up costing practically double what we had initially planned , in an important discussion between the federal and state governments, we agreed that we will utilize part of the FUNRGS resources, which originate from not collecting the state's debt. We will use a portion of those resources to help us secure and carry out the works as proposed by the state government and the municipality of Eldorado do Sul. Another important step was finalizing the project here. I think it's very important that I insisted on this with the governor. These six and a half billion reais that are being used, you know, how are they being applied, they're already nearing R$ 8 billion more, but they have to serve those 15 municipalities. Some are getting the projects ready, but the money has to be enough for everyone; it's not possible for those who arrive first to receive all the money. So, a question I wanted to ask you, it was deposited in December 2024 for this Firense program, why are we only now releasing the equivalent of 1.5 billion? It seems to me that of those 6 billion... What is the delay? I think I believe that the governor can talk about this, the mayors too, in the monitoring discussions that we had, Mr. President, the projects that we had in 2024 needed to be updated. There was a decision to re-tender rather than directly contract the services in order to expedite these projects. But I think the city halls and the governor can talk about these details, but this also worries us. Mr. President, because the funds are there and it's very important that they be used, because the population will be protected the sooner these works are completed. So, I think this other one, why is this other step important? Because that other one from Porto Alegre, which is Poer 78, also located near the airport, is part of the Gravataí basin, which involves other municipalities. And we had a reserve of resources for everyone. Furthermore, with every project I undertake here, as with the entire conurbated metropolitan region, we cannot make decisions that improve the situation in one municipality but worsen it in another, that divert water to another municipality and harm yet another municipality. So, an important discussion is this rounding off, let's say, of whether this proposal that I'm releasing today for Porto Alegre doesn't harm the other municipalities in the Gravataí basin. So, this was a process that we carried out together with the state government and the municipalities, and we managed to finalize it in such a way that this project in Porto Alegre and also in Canoas , the Pumping Station, can now be analyzed by Caixa Econômica Federal (a Brazilian bank) and we can authorize the bidding process. With this, Mr. President, it's, I think, a very important thing here for Rio Grande do Sul, for the metropolitan region, that we are already releasing funds to hold the bidding process and for these works to begin. With that, I think this is the last slide. With this, Mr. President, you demonstrate once again how you view the service provided to all the states here, the support for the people of Rio Grande do Sul at this time, which continues with this care throughout this period until now, and the policy that you have always followed of having discussions directly with the states. Oh, thank God, instead of dealing with that issue, we're going to have this discussion about resource allocation directly with the state government and the municipalities. I think you're demonstrating yours once again, okay? It is your support for the people of Rio Grande do Sul. Vladimir is telling me here that the assisted purchase was made with, I mean, the housing is with 121 municipalities, a portion of which are rural, so assisted purchase is more difficult, of which 65 municipalities participated in the assisted purchase. Thank you for your kindness, Mr. President. Well, I think that's the presentation. See? Ah, a coconut candy. Uh, uh, so I guess I'll pass the word now, I think to the governor, the president, and then, I think that's it, right? Where's my list? So that later we can move on to the actual signing and the statement, " Oh no, I think the governor is going to speak." Part of the population doesn't understand. We can't expect people to understand how you announce you're going to allocate six and a half billion to address the problems caused by that rain more quickly, and then two years later you're only releasing 15 and a half million. So I want to know, because I want to know if it's Caixa's fault, if it's our fault, if it's the Ministry of Cities' fault, if it's the state government's fault, if it's the mayor's fault, because the answer is just to explain to the people why it didn't happen as quickly as we wanted it to. Everyone wanted it to be quick. The mayor wanted it to be quick, the governor wanted it to be quick, the people wanted it to be extremely quick, you know? And it didn't happen. I, I, I get uneasy because it's not the first thing. I arrive in a city, governor, I arrive in a city where we've invested 2 or 3 billion to carry out a specific project, and after 3 years nothing has happened. That's where the excuses begin, not because there was no project, or because there weren't funds, because, you know? So, when you deposit the money, you tie up the money, meaning you can't do anything else with that money until it's used. So, just to clarify, I don't know what the problem is with the gearbox either, okay? But it's important just to know. Mr. President, welcome to Rio Grande do Sul. Minister Miram, Minister Vladimir, President Carlos, Representative Pimenta, Mayors Airton, Sebastião Melo and Juliana, and the press who are here with us. Mr. President, then, answering your question first. Well, I don't think it's a matter of assigning blame here . I understand your need is the same as mine. But it's not a question of guilt, it's a question of responsibility. These are very large projects that needed to be reviewed, also due to the flooding that occurred. Let's take the case of Eldorado do Sul. In Eldorado, the project that was being developed before the 2024 floods envisioned a ditch approximately 6 meters high, which would have been surpassed by the flood that occurred in 2024. Therefore, it required a review, and the state had to contract a review of the initial projects. We negotiated with the companies that were responsible for the counter-projects. They conditioned other hirings on that hiring for the review. So, the state had to initiate a new hiring process so that the project, or rather the preliminary project, could be reviewed. The preliminary project is ready; it foresees not a 6-meter dike, but a 7.30-meter one , and not two pumping stations, but four to accommodate the Eudorado case, and three others that were not initially included are now also included. So this review of the preliminary projects ended up generating, right, this use of time for the case of Odorado, and just as it is the case with the other basins, the bells, Grabatai, and so on. Well, the federal government's decision is commendable. I want to highlight this, and we are grateful here in Rio Grande do Sul for the decision to establish FRES, the contribution of R$ 6 billion and more made in 2024, taking advantage of the exception to the spending cap that was established by the National Congress for spending linked to the reconstruction of Rio Grande do Sul. It was correctly used, as I said, the federal government's decision to make this contribution of R$ 6.5 billion in 2024 is commendable. But did the government also know that it would n't be used immediately? It was an important attitude to safeguard and protect these resources for use, but the entire federal government team was aware that there would still be a timeline for completing projects and putting these works into execution. We have now reached the first stage , perhaps the most important, because the municipality of Odourado is completely vulnerable in its location . Eh, let's build a fortified city like Dicks to protect it from floods. Well, and now Caixa Econômica Federal is finalizing the technical analysis of the revised preliminary project. Once Caixa completes this analysis , it will go to the FIRESP management committee, which is led by Minister Miriam, then Minister of the Civil House. And then we're waiting for approval from FIR so that we can launch the call for proposals. So, your concern is the same as mine, the same demand I make of my team, the same demand the minister makes, that we all make, but we're talking about monumental projects. Let's compare this to the case of the São Francisco River diversion project. The project, which began in the 1990s, was completed in the early 2000s. The contracting of the project began during his first term, and it wasn't until 12 years later that the first functional deliveries were made, followed by all the branch lines. It wasn't the historical context, it was actually... no, I'm not president, it's not a criticism. I'm telling you this. In 2005, do you know why I don't want comparisons? Because the water transfer project started with 470 km, today it has 100 km and 15,000 km of pipeline, because something that began for three states... Today we are even almost filling the São Francisco River back to its original level. My concern here is this: what I want to know is this: there's a flood, there's a calamity here, and so on. The money came, the money was needed , it was our obligation to put up the money, okay? So I want to know the following: was the delay due to the project development process, the Caixa Econômica's fault, or our decision-making process? So I want to know that. I don't want to question it, I'm looking for someone to blame. I want to know, because I already told Mir a while ago, we can't release any more money if there's no project, because sometimes we put money in the account for 3 years, you know, and it's not used. Then you use it for other things. When the project is ready, you can do it. It's to ensure the proper spending of public money. It's not about you tying up the money. One thing here. We are only releasing 1.5 billion of the 6.5 billion that was allocated here to meet the needs of the municipality. All of them are correct. My concern is this: when are we going to release the other 4 and 5? Mr. President, I am responding to you with the responsibility that the subject demands. These are large, complex projects that are being revisited due to the need for them to be well- structured in this metropolitan region. So I make the comparison, and I insist on the comparison, whether it's the São Francisco River diversion project or the BR-16 highway, which was a project started here in Rio Grande do Sul at the end of his term, with the promise that it would be completed in 2014. To this day, that project has not been completed due to a series of problems, whether budgetary or operational. Ultimately, comparisons are important so that we can correctly assign the size and dimension that each work has. I am here, once again, I insist, grateful to the federal government for providing these resources. 6.5 billion is a very important part of the FES. It was an important gesture from the federal government, from your government, towards Rio Grande do Sul, but these are large, complex projects that we all knew needed to be revisited in the design phase so that we could launch the bidding processes. We are here celebrating today, Mr. President, that finally the first major project has been completed, right? He managed to get the draft bill revisited; it's being analyzed at Caixa Econômica Federal (a Brazilian bank); this analysis should be completed now so we can turn on the microphone. It's not him calling from there, it's someone calling from somewhere else. Shout it out, shout it out so everyone grabs the microphone. The measure you're taking is live. The measurement is that your microphone is live. As the project arrives at Caixa [a Brazilian bank], we have the internal engineering process at Caixa that is carried out locally. Well, I don't have the deliberation schedule for each of these submitted projects here . So, first we receive the basic design, the basic design is analyzed , then you move on to the detailed design, check the costs, and from there the approval is granted, right? Typically, when an infrastructure project arrives at Caixa, we take around 60 days to analyze it. It takes us around 60 days, on average, from when he arrives with his entire scope complete, right? So, as already mentioned, these projects are extremely complex from the point of view of their preparation, but on average, at Caixa, it takes 60 days, at the latest up to 90 days, for them to arrive. That's Caixa's deadline. Excuse me, Governor, for interrupting your speech, but I just wanted to clarify. In the case of Eldorado, the entire project has already been analyzed. So now, all we have to do is sign here, and the ministry will give the order to authorize the bidding process, because this part is already done. For the other two cases, we finalized the design, and now the municipalities will hand over the projects so we can implement them . We have one that has already been put out to tender, and we accept the tender that was previously issued. I don't remember which of the two. Ah, it's from Canoas. So, the one in Canoas has already been put out to tender. Sorry, Governor. These are two pumping stations that the municipality of Canoas is about to start building. We agreed that we would use one of the projects, which would be completely revised, but there are two pumping stations for which the municipality of Canoas already has the projects ready to execute the work. So, in agreement with the management committee of the ministries, we are bringing it forward. So, Mr. President, that's 150 km of dikes that will be built across all the projects. There are approximately 70 pumping stations. These are large, complex projects in the municipalities' drainage systems, but we are making progress here in partnership with the federal government. And we reached an agreement with Minister Miriam Melquior that the excess portion... So you can see that in the original draft bill it was R$30 million more. Well, in this case, we are updating the project and it will cost R$1.30 million, R$ 1.28 million if I'm not mistaken. Well, the FIR, this fund that was created by the federal government, will guarantee 700.30 million. And the state government, through the reconstruction fund, which is part of the agreement we made with the Union regarding the suspension of debt payments, makes available the other 300 million reais. It's important to say that this is also financial and fiscal breathing room that we've built up over the last few years so that the state can resume paying its debt. The state wasn't paying its debt, but it would resume paying it. Just when he was about to start paying off the debt, the catastrophe happened. And then the federal government also makes this important gesture and makes an agreement with us, and we are able to secure these additional R$ 300 million here with resources from the state government that would have been used to pay off the debt, to supplement the R$1 billion here. So, we are celebrating this important milestone. I insist, all our effort is to do it as quickly as possible, but without relinquishing the responsibility we have in each of these projects to deliver protection systems that truly protect the population in the metropolitan region of the state of Rio Grande do Sul. So, we thank you for coming here, and we also thank Minister Miriam Belor for the fruitful dialogue we have had with the ministry. Yes, and of course, the mayors also work with us in a dedicated manner so that each of these projects can become a reality and we can deliver to the people of Rio Grande do Sul the protection that we all desire here. Thank you very much, Mr. President. If you want, we would certainly just sign and you could speak, but we can give you a call, okay? I think we could pass. Yeah, you know? Oh there. President Lula, good afternoon. Your greetings go to Minister Miriam, Minister Valdimiro, the president of Caixa, and the governor. What? You have to keep quiet about faith, right? Well, I also want to greet our governor Eduardo Leite, greet my colleague, the mayor of our capital, Sebastião Melo, the mayor of Eldorado, Juliana, and the minister and congressman who is the government's interlocutor here in Rio Grande do Sul, Congressman Pimenta, who, allow me to say, played a very important role, yes, in the relationship with the municipalities. and especially Canoas, which, in terms of population, was the city most affected by the flood. We had 50% of our city, practically 180,000 people, directly affected by the flood. We lost all the public facilities on the west side, but the federal government's help came at a good time, it's very important for us to be able to ensure that practically all the works to protect our city are happening, right? We've already delivered one, which is the one in Rio Branco, the Caçol Wall. We will deliver Matias Velho by the end of the year. We are making great progress in protecting the Rio Branco, Fátima neighborhood, and the Mato Grande neighborhood, and also the Mato Grande neighborhood. And now today, the president is granting the release of 75 million reais for the protection of the pumping stations, because it's no use having a wall, having the DIC (Integrated Control Center), and not having the equipment to pump water into the city. So I would like to express my gratitude for all the support provided to our city, largely thanks to Minister Pimenta at the time, who is now a congressman, and who handled this communication very well. So, uh, and today I came here with great satisfaction to welcome you to the city of Canoas and also to thank you for what has already been released and to leave it in your hands, Mr. President. It's precisely the bureaucracy that hinders the process, you know, the release of funds. We still have more projects to protect the city, such as the São Luís neighborhood, which , Governor, encompasses approximately 13 km of Dick and also Bianchini, a very important region where we are discussing the release of these funds with the state government . So here's my recognition, and I'll also leave you, Mr. President, with a pin here from our city, as a token of our gratitude for everything that has been done for our city. Ah, important, Mr. President, let me pick that up again . Importantly, we have another piece of equipment that is being renovated, which is the emergency room, the urgent care hospital. We only have two emergency rooms . in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, one in Porto Alegre and the other in Canoças. And this health center is very important, and we really need Caixa's (Brazilian bank) swift release of funds so that the construction can proceed quickly and we can deliver this health center next year. It serves not only Canosa, but a large part of Rio Grande do Sul. So, the emergency room, Mr. President of Caixa, is very important for Rio Grande do Sul, okay? So here is my appeal for the release of funds to be processed very quickly. Mayor Juliana Caval, please. Good afternoon. I greet the authorities present, and today is a day of gratitude, of thankfulness, of being here to experience this moment, especially as mayor. President Lula, my city was 90% submerged in 2024, and the people I govern suffered greatly. And unfortunately, it's not just a 2-year wait, it's 14 years. The first time funding was released for this project was in 2012. By 2016, it was ready, but it never received the necessary funds for construction to begin. Unfortunately, it took what happened in 2024 for us to finally see this project come to fruition. And the day the order is given to start the flood protection system in Dourado do Sul will undoubtedly be the most exciting day for the 40,000 people who live there and who have suffered annually from floods for decades, and who will now finally be able to change their lives and have their stories completely transformed. I truly wish that everyone at this table could be present on that day and look into the eyes of every citizen of Oldourado do Sul, who, like me, will certainly be deeply moved by the realization of this great dream: protecting our city. Thank you very much, Mr. President. It's always a joy to see you again, to greet your entire team, you're always welcome here in our capital, and also to greet our governor. Look, Mr. President, the system of full accountability, it was born from the 1941 flood, it took 20 years, and it comes from the north zone, going all the way to the south-central part of the city, created by what was then abolished by the Cola government, right? And it is a federal constitutional responsibility, but it is not prohibited from governing states and municipalities. I want to say that the same people who elect the president also elect a governor and a mayor. I think Pimenta is the greatest witness to this, knowing how we have handled this cooperative federative governance. Porto has made great progress in this process. Including this 178, Minister, it's ready to be put out to tender, which is the house that protects all of our Sarandi, which was born in the 50s. So this last class now, for example, here at the Vasco Gramataí, Minister, I want to say the following, the one who led this process is Professor Tut, who is one of the greatest international specialists. So this project, which was done in partnership with money from Furriques and will now receive 178, 278 from FIR, is scientific, it 's not an invention of the mayor . It is sustainable. The first phase was completed in 60 days; I called it a Chinese-style project, and it's saving the northern zone, the fourth district as well, Anchieta, and the F airport, which is an international facility. So, the first stage is complete. I want to express my gratitude for this partnership. Actually, there isn't a single place I open my mouth, whether to make a video or say: "Look, here we have a tripartite partnership between the state, federal, and municipal levels. That's how we operate. Of these 9,000 houses, 13,000 are built. Vladimiro is here, a very good guy. And Carlos too, who is a great partner, but Caixa is also a great partner of yours, a great client, okay? 5,000 in Porto Alegre alone. Sadly, I've already had to report almost 300 people to the Federal Police who sold the houses and then took another batch, and now they've been caught and committed fraud, and I took the first one to the Federal Police, I'm taking the second one now. So, Mr. President, I want to say the following: we had to redo the old system, it was redone. We did a lot of work, a lot of work, which we don't have time for here, but a lot of work, a lot of treatments, and there's one fundamental work, all of which are the basics. We have to accommodate 2,400 families. To do a project, to To remove 57 families, I had to disobey a court order, otherwise I would have used force, because the control agents think they govern the country, the states, the municipalities. So I want to thank you for this partnership. I think in a crisis you have two paths, to look for someone to blame or to look for solutions. I want to say that I have always been there to find solutions. I want to thank Pimenta very much, he was a great partner here as well, and the entire government. We worked well in this process. Now, flood protection is not a one-off project, and governance is fundamental, Minister, because the water doesn't end in the municipality, and the Guaíba basin is 85,000 km², and therefore, flood protection is for the metropolitan region, but it's also for the Guaíba basin, which includes four rivers bathed and supplied by more than 20. And I wanted to make a symbolic request here, I already sent it to you, but I want to register it: go up to Cristal, which is past the Internacional bus stop at Corax, which were works by Brizola . From there on, no Yes. So, in the southern zone, it goes all the way to Lami, almost 60 km. The most delicate project is in Guarujá, passing through Panema, Serraria, next to the army base, Vila do Sargento, and there's a 400 million project there that I wanted to discuss. There's a well-developed preliminary project ; it would be the first X-ray protection project in the southern zone of Porto Alegre, which doesn't have any because there were some in the 60s up to the south-central area, and there's nothing beyond that. I want to express my gratitude and appreciation for the partnership, and we are together, aren't we, to make a better city, a better life, in the sense that we need to join hands after the election. Together it's already difficult; separated we will do nothing. Health and peace. Thank you very much. Okay . Good afternoon to everyone. President Luís Inácio Lula da Silva, First Lady Janja, Governor Eduardo Leite, Minister Miriam Belciquió, Minister Vladimir of Cities, Deputy Pimenta, the Caixa partner, Melo, the mayor of Belo Horizonte, excuse me, of Porto Alegre, I do n't know why. I remembered Belo Horizonte, the mayor of Canoas, the mayor of Dourado do Sul, I was looking at some numbers from Caixa Econômica Federal (a Brazilian bank), numbers provided by the federal government, and beyond the issue we 're discussing here. Regarding the federal government's social programs in Rio Grande do Sul, we've included various government programs, and [snoring] I 'll highlight the "Pé de Meia" (a program providing social support), R$ 23 billion more in the last 12 months. The "Pé de Meia," as a highlight , R$ 277 million more. So, these are the numbers that Caixa produces and that Caixa has been present in. Caixa is present in Rio Grande do Sul, it's a partner of the state, we've done many actions with the state, with the municipalities, and with society. The crisis that occurred here in Rio Grande do Sul allowed Caixa to redo its entire protocol for action in these areas and where there is calamity. So, today Caixa's actions have a protocol that we even made visible at the COP (Community Policies Conference). 30, which brings a series of actions. We even have an agency that's set up during times of crisis, a container agency, as we call it in this context. Here in Rio Grande do Sul, Caixa [the bank] paid, among other payments, this reconstruction aid. And something very interesting happened, because 80% of those 300 [shortly] out of 430,000 families didn't have documents, and Caixa created a new mechanism that has become a national paradigm today, helping to modernize Caixa: facial recognition and fingerprint identity recognition. This was an innovation at Caixa starting in Rio Grande do Sul. So, there are many actions by Caixa here. The initial goal of this aid, which leads to assisted purchases, was 4,000 units. We are reaching the number presented by the Minister of Cities of 13,700. This is a new model that, based on what happened here, the Ministry of Cities brought as... A new model for Brazil, for other interventions. So, there are many actions based on the experience of Rio Grande do Sul, which led Caixa to modernize a series of actions. As you rightly point out, the pursuit of efficiency and acceleration of deadlines in the delivery of these projects, when they arrive at Caixa, we have been working to improve this action even further. We will take this request from the mayor of Canoas regarding the hospital unit, okay? It's already noted here, as soon as I leave here, I'll contact the vice-president of the government. But anyway, Mr. President, this demonstration of the presence of the federal government, together with the state government and the municipalities, demonstrates your concern for everything that happens in this context of a better Brazil. I just wanted to record that I remember an occasion, I was returning with you from a trip during the crisis that was happening here in Rio Grande do Sul, and your concern, your dialogue with us. When you defined this issue of reconstruction aid, the first initiative was to take out a loan, I don't know if... You all remember, everyone remembers this, it was a loan. And the president said: "No, you're going to have to find a model that allows us to deliver the resources and that isn't in the form of a loan." And your government, the technicians of your government, among them, the technicians of Caixa [a Brazilian bank], found this model which was the following: there is technically a term when we grant credit with resources from a government fund, we technically call it stop loss. What is a stop loss? This is the amount of default that the fund accepts . And in structuring the operation, it was concluded that the 5100 would help much more than just providing a loan. That's how we worked, how your government, in a sensitive way, brought this new alternative to help the people of Rio Grande do Sul. So, Caixa is committed to improving its processes so that we can increasingly fulfill Caixa's role, which is to contribute to improving the lives of the population and transforming people's lives, in the face of government programs, especially those of the federal government. Thanks. [applause] Minister of Cities, Vladimir Lima. Good afternoon to everyone, and to all who are watching. First of all, I would like to greet His Excellency President Lula, Minister Miriam, the Governor of the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Eduardo Leite, our partner and friend, and Congressman Paulo Pimenta, who played a very important role in the entire process that took place here in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. A special greeting to Sebastião, Ilton, Juliana, and the three mayors, who are also partners of the federal government. Folks, I never think it's too much, you know, Minister Miranda, President Lula, to remind ourselves that in 2023 what was budgeted for risk prevention was less than R$ millions. And President Lula, in a very assertive manner in a dialogue with the National Congress, both with the Chamber of Deputies and the Federal Senate, which had the PEC (Proposed Constitutional Amendment) for the transition, we managed to review this budget and vote on investing in risk prevention. After all, the previous administration had not been investing in slope containment works to prevent landslides, nor in drainage works to avoid the risk of floods, flash floods, and landslides. And from there, the president resumes an agenda in which he recreates the ministry, allocates a budget for these actions, and creates a specific secretariat, the National Secretariat for the Periphery, focused on the urbanization of favelas, which are peripheral territories. Ultimately , these families living in these most vulnerable territories are the ones most impacted by the situations we have seen occurring in Brazil and around the world. After all, extreme weather events are becoming more intense and frequent, and we're seeing what happened in Rio Grande do Sul, what's happening in Brazil and around the world. So I think, and I'm telling you this as a career civil servant in the Ministry of Cities, where I've worked for 18 years, that your vision and perception is of allocating resources to this agenda and making it a central government agenda. And here in Rio Grande do Sul we allocated 6.5 billion , which Minister Mira presented in an excellent light, she discussed very well. In addition, she mentions that there was a B in the proposal submitted to the municipalities and the state for the PAC selection, and we selected all the proposals. Now, what we want, and what we're returning to here, and I agree with the president, is that this also worries me, is that we have a substantial amount of resources allocated to cities here in Rio Grande do Sul, in the state, and not only in the state, but throughout Brazil. And we want to see it happen, we want to see investment turn into action, become reality, preserve life, bring safety to people. I was just discussing this with Carlos Vieira, the president of Caixa, on the flight a little while ago. Every time I see floods and flash floods on television— we've seen more than 160 municipalities in Rio Grande do Sul in this situation— it causes us immense concern as an organization, as Brazil, as the federal government, and as all of you here, authorities and actors who can and should change this reality. And we know that this is the reality; we, as the Ministry of Cities, establish the guidelines, the programs, and allocate the resources, but we need you to execute these projects and make them a reality. And that's the message I want to leave here, because this brings me personal anguish, as a public servant and as a Brazilian citizen, for this resource to go from being on paper, becoming an investment, becoming a project, and saving lives, folks. That's it. Thank you very much. Thank you, Minister Vladimir. We will now proceed to the signing of the authorizations that have been presented here. Let's begin. Let me pick which one. So this is it. Okay, so the term "agitation" here refers to the transfer of resources to Canoas, to the City Hall of Canoas. So please, Mayor, let him come here and sign, okay? Because it already takes pictures. [clearing throat] Okay. So, go check it out. Present. Only the mayor. No, mayor. Stay here because you already get to take pictures with the president and the governor. Instead of lifting 200g, which this cover should be afraid of. The president was there. So let's take it off, take it off, okay? Take it to the other one then. It's OK. So now it starts with " Esse é o de Porto Alegre". [laughter] The head of protocol said it has to be done. This one is from Porto Alegre. Go ahead, but he's following the current order. Order of the ceremony. The order of the ceremony was: it could n't be done, it couldn't be done. [laughs] The two of them, there are two of them, right? I think it's done. The announcement is golden, but now it's a resolution. The photo, right? Before taking the picture, Mayor, I just wanted to say, I just wanted to say one little thing. He's going to speak and we'll take a picture of him. I just wanted to say one little thing to you all, [snoring] because the media knows, I'm a perpetual critic of government efficiency. Well, in about 3 months we have, we're going to have an election in 26 days. In six or five months, we'll have a new governor, you know? And there will be a president of the Republic. It is unknown who will be the governor, nor who will be the president of the Republic. It's not even known who will be the president of Caixa Econômica Federal. The concrete fact is that if we take on a project like this and don't finish it while we're in power, anyone who comes in can stop it later. It's the most routine thing in Brazil. He is a mayor, a governor, and a president, working towards the legacy of his predecessor. Assuming that the people are not taken into account, it is the individual who is taken into account. I'm going to do my work, I'm going to finish my work, okay? So, ah, we have extraordinary examples of work that keeps stopping, then restarting, stopping again , and so on. Sometimes it's true that there's a lack of money, other times it's true that it's the Federal Audit Court, other times it's true that it's some kind of complaint , other times it's true that the bank keeps demanding things it doesn't need to demand, but it does because for someone to sign off on a project in the public sector today is very complicated. Everyone is afraid because with all the denunciations, with all the denunciations that exist, everyone is afraid. So the guy who has to sign almost has to be persuaded to sign an authorization. It applies to Caixa, it applies to Banco do Brasil, it applies to BNDES, it applies to everyone who signs. So my concern is that when you start a project, you need to finish that project, because that's what disrupts the infrastructure of this country, right? This was transferred by the municipality, the mayor, I think in 1983. I do n't know which military government transferred the responsibility for the dikes to you. The thing is, if the idea was to improve things, it didn't improve them; it stayed the way it was. It took a major disaster for us to discover that those guys could have done it at the right time. So, often in this country, you know, what seems expensive today becomes three times more expensive tomorrow, because we never discuss how much it costs not to do things at the right time. I don't know how many times that has happened in your city, but the concrete fact is that the mayor stays for 4 years, the governor stays for 4 years, the president stays for 4 years, but the people who have a small house, they stay there the whole time. When there's a flood, the poor guy spends, you know, a month waiting for the walls to dry, trying to salvage the refrigerator base, the television base, the bed legs, even the legs of the little dog he adopted from the flood. There's our hope, she had two surgeries, but she's alive and kicking, doing Latin shakes. Good. Okay . So that's my concern . My concern is this. The people, the people, the people, the eternal ones in the city and the village. We are passengers. So we need to be concerned, you know? Something almost pathological. To know if the delivery is taking so long , you know? to find out if it's us who are taking too long. Why are we taking so long? Because otherwise things will just happen and the people will suffer and suffer and suffer and suffer and suffer. Did you mention the last flood that occurred there many years ago? 14 years old. Every year, for 14 years, I had a project. Then it's not possible. I've lived in a flooded area before, mayor. I've had 1.5 meters of water inside my house before. I know what it's like to sleep away from home. I know it's like losing your mattress, losing your bed, losing your television, your chair, losing everything you have. And there's no one to give it to, okay? So I wanted you to know that what we did here in Rio Grande do Sul changed the pattern of the federal government, even for up to two municipalities, which seemed to only happen in Rio Grande do Sul, due to the strength of the people from Rio Grande do Sul. In other words, we will now be required to implement the same standard as the one from Rio Grande do Sul for any and all municipalities in Brazil that experience any kind of disaster or calamity . So here a standard was established for the federal government to respond to any misfortune that I saw happen to the people due to nature. So my anxiety stems from this: we're in a hurry to get things done. I remember because I got nervous around Pimenta back when he was the special minister. Let's build a house, let's build a house. Then there were mayors who didn't even have people's names or addresses. We didn't know if the person lived there or not. Then you get restless because the month goes by, you're living there, you're eating, but people are still waiting. So, that's my concern. Miram knows, Mir knows about my concerns regarding the Civil House, you know? Because sometimes we take a long time to get things done , sometimes we take a long time to respond, sometimes we have the money and things just don't get done. Sometimes you have money, but things don't happen. In this park, when the mayors' march arrives, which is normally held in March of next year, for the first time we will bring to the mayors' march all the benefits that a mayor has received, because never before have 98% of mayors been served as they were in this PAC (Growth Acceleration Program). There isn't a single city, or maybe 2% or 3% of it, that didn't receive it, but the entire municipality either received a hospital, or an emergency care unit, or, you know, medical equipment, or an ambulance, or , you know, anything. There isn't a single municipality, you know, except for 2%, that stopped receiving anything. So, since the mayors go to Brasília to make so many demands, it's funny because the mayors don't march against the governor. You've already had a march against you. So now, [laughs] we're going to take, we're going to take, you know, to show what happened to each mayor in his life so that we can establish rules. For example, when we decide to universalize full-time schooling, it will only work if we have an agreement signed with the governor and the mayor. If we decide to build daycare centers, we know that each municipality needs to have the necessary number of daycare centers; it will only work if there is an agreement with the mayors and the governor. If one person doesn't want it, things take longer to happen. And often, you see, regarding the issue of the fires in the Amazon, it was very easy for us in Brasília to blame the mayor from who-knows-where. No. We decided the following: instead of blaming the mayor, we're going to call him and make him a partner in fighting the fire, because he's the mayor who's there, he's the mayor who lives there, he's the mayor who knows he owns the farm, he's the mayor who knows it's the land. Instead of turning him into an enemy, it's better to bring him in and turn him into a partner so he feels responsible for helping to prevent wildfires and deforestation. Do you know that? That's how public policy works. That agreement we made, the plan we implemented to ensure children are literate within two years, so that every child in the second grade would already be literate, we reached 66% in a year and a half, demonstrating that when we establish rules that everyone participates in and feels complicit in the benefit, everyone does it. Everyone does it. One person alone cannot run the federal government, one person alone cannot run the mayor, and one person alone cannot run the governor. Or we learn it, you know? And every time something bad happens in that place, we learn something, you know? Learn. The mayor often yells, curses, and demands things from people. Then you 'll see the mayor doesn't even have a project, right? Then it goes to Caixa to release the money. Do you think Caixa will give money based on the appearance of the mayors? Nothing. He will give money for the guarantee that he will not be sued or prosecuted by the Federal Court of Accounts or by anyone else. So I leave here, Miram, certain that we'll have to get the rest of the money that's missing here, see what needs to be done so that we can release this money while this young man is still governor, because he has a commitment to this. 17 days. I don't know who's going to come in, it's happening, I don't know who's going to come in, and I don't know if they have the same interest. You can invent another priority project, you can say it won't rain anymore. There's no shortage of people who say it won't rain anymore. So, since we know it's going to keep raining, we need to handle this very responsibly. Therefore, I want to thank the mayors who have already prepared the projects. I want to congratulate Caixa for the legalizations it has carried out so far. I've only seen two so far, just two, you know? No, she didn't sign the document. No, but that's because she already has the contact. Contact has already been made. Now, man, I'm going to find out how long it took you to do this project, because it's not easy. Bureaucracy is no joke. This is no joke. You, ruler, are the train's engine. You are a new machine that has arrived in the city, but the administrative machine is the station. She's not really worried about the noise from the machine, you know? She says: "That mayor shouts a lot, talks a lot, but she's only been here for 4 years. I've been here for 30 and I'll be here for another 20." And that's how it works, darling. That's what worries me: making the public machine work when society needs it, not when society thinks it can, okay? So, congratulations, and let's solve the problem in Rio Grande do Sul. [applause] All right? Do it there. Wait a minute. Just a second. Thank you very much.