Romeu Zema defends industry ties, critiques rivals and faces scrutiny over tax exemptions

Former Minas Gerais governor and Novo Party presidential hopeful Romeu Zema told a CNI event in Brasília that the Federação das Indústrias de Minas Gerais had acted “practically as a secretariat” in his state administration and warned that the current federal government was “criminalising the productive sector.”

At the same forum he announced he would support Senator Efraim Filho’s bid for the Minas Gerais governorship, blaming President Lula’s spending for rising interest rates and describing Brazil as heading toward “darker days.”

In a separate interview Zema said he does not regret criticizing Senator Flávio Bolsonaro for his contacts with former banker Daniel Vorcaro, calling Vorcaro a “bandit” and urging broad investigations into the Master Bank case.

Court‑ordered disclosure revealed that during Zema’s tenure the Minas Gerais government granted an ICMS exemption of R$ 2.28 million to Eletrozema, a retail chain owned by the Zema family, a detail the former governor had previously defended keeping confidential.