Zema says family store was the target of the PF and implies Lula’s persecution

The governor of Minas Gerais, Romeu Zema (Novo), said in an interview that a store in his family was the target of an inspection of the Ministry of Labor accompanied by seven Federal Police vehicles in February this year. Without presenting evidence, he suggested that the action would have political motivation, amid the articulations for the 2026 elections. The statement was made during an interview with Weston the night of Thursday, 22.

The Ministry of Labor and Employment disputes the version, says that target was not a company of the Zema group and that the PRF, not the PF, acted in the action. The PRF says it only operates in the security of MTE agents and also the Public Prosecution Service. (See the answers below). The PF and the Presidency Secretariat of Communication did not speak.

“An interesting fact. My company, the company that I managed, I’m a partner, is not mine, it is from the family, two months ago there were seven vehicles from the Federal Police. Never, in the history of the company, which is over 100 years old, had an inspection that way.

Zema also said that the company, which according to him was “always supervised”, received the visit of the agents for an alleged “usual inspection”, and that, after the inspection, the police would have followed to verify the situation of outsourced companies.

“The company is 102 years old. They have never entered with police force. The company is open, has always been supervised. It is one of the best companies to work in Minas Gerais, according to Great Place to Work,” he said. Asked if he saw political persecution, he replied, “I leave you to conclude.”

The superintendent of the Ministry of Labor in Minas Gerais, Carlos Calazans, countered the statements of Governor Romeu Zema and denied that there was supervision in stores of the Zema Group accompanied by the Federal Police.

According to him, there was an inspection made in February, which targeted an outsourced carrier, called Cidade das Águas, after denunciation of work analogous to slavery. The operation was accompanied by agents of the Federal Highway Police, not the Federal Police.

“There we found 22 workers in slavery -like conditions. They worked up to 20 hours in a row, transporting electrozema products such as furniture, appliances, all over the region, had no lunchtime, they slept in the truck ride. So there are very precarious conditions of this carrier, which is still under investigation,” Calazans explained.

The carrier’s representatives were not found to comment on the ministry’s information. The space is open.

“The governor’s speech was an inaccurate, incorrect speech. I don’t know why he brought these facts, which are not true, surfaced in this interview,” he added.

The PRF pointed out that it is only responsible for the safety of the teams of the Ministry of Labor and Employment and the Labor Prosecutor.

In addition to speech about the operation, Zema made a series of criticism of the government of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. The governor said that he notices a federal government movement to harm Minas Gerais and cited, as an example, an event of the new pharmaceutical company Nordisk, in Montes Claros, in the north of the state.

According to him, the federal government would have mobilized supporters to go to the announcement of billionaire investments from the company, which made him cancel his participation in the event. “They pay a sandwich, pay for their passage, to go to go to their party,” he said.

The governor also accused the federal government of poor conservation of federal highways that cut Minas Gerais and neglecting the state. He cited serious accidents as a reflection of this and associated the situation with an alleged political retaliation.

“It seems that there is a tantrum with Minas Gerais. It is a government that invests little, that charges loan shark, and it is a state that is there, resisting. It was in the PT that he sank. It is worth remembering: Minas Gerais sank in the PT,” he said.

THE Estadão He contacted Governor Romeu Zema asking clarification on the cited inspection, and awaits return. The Secretariat of Communication of the Presidency of the Republic was also sought and did not speak, as was the Federal Police.