The chief minister of the Social Communication Secretariat of the Presidency of the Republic (Secom), Paulo Pimenta, announced this Tuesday afternoon (7) that he is leaving command of the department following a decision by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Pimenta has been in the position since the beginning of the current administration, in January 2023. In his place, Bahian publicist Sidônio Palmeira will take over.
“The president has a very accurate reading that we had a first phase of the government, which was a reconstruction phase, a phase of repositioning programs, government actions. And, from 2025, we will enter a new phase of the government, which is what we call the harvest period, the results”, said Pimenta, in his office, in an announcement to journalists who cover the Palácio do Planalto.
“The president wants to have at the head of Secom a person who has a different profile than I have. A communications professional, a person who has experience, who has talent, creativity, the ability to carry out this task and coordinate this communication policy government in the next period.”
The exchange had already been decided, but was finalized in a conversation between Lula and Pimenta during the morning, according to the president’s official agenda. Pimenta’s current team is already making the transition with the future minister’s nominees. In the department’s executive secretariat, the second most important position, the publicist Thiago César will take over from lawyer Ricardo Zamora.
Sidônio Palmeira has worked for decades in political campaigns, including Lula’s successful election in 2022, and that of Bahian PT politicians, such as Rui Costa and Jacques Wagner. Palmeira will take office at the beginning of next week, in a ceremony at Planalto.
“I will do as much as possible to inform and maintain the transparency that this government has. I would even make a parallel, which is a second phase that we are starting”, stated Sidônio, in his first words as future minister. “The government did a lot during this period, these two years, and this is our challenge”, added the publicist, who also assured that he will have a close relationship with the press.
Digital communication
The next Secom minister highlighted the need to make government management increasingly digital, with an impact on communication. “It is also important that management is not analogical, that it communicates how people are being served, I don’t know, in the health area, it is important that it communicates, in a vaccination part, for example, that people know where to get vaccinated and everything. This is a form of communication that often doesn’t just come from Secom. It can also come from an app”, he stated.
“There is also an observation, in the digital part, that people say, some say: ‘that is analog’ [o modelo de comunicação do governo]. I think we need to evolve in this. It’s a start, but there needs to be progress. And it’s important, this is the government’s role, [o de] communicate. It is the government’s role and obligation to communicate what has been done. And also for people to be able to benefit from the government’s achievements”, he reinforced.
First experience
Sidônio Palmeira also said he had never worked in any government and refused the label of marketer. “I’m a person who has never worked in government, so I come from the private sector. I’m an advertiser. Some call it a marketer. I don’t really like the term ‘marketer’, because it makes it seem like we’re going to turn anything into the best, but that’s not it. I think we have to publicize the characteristics”, he said.
Secom is the body responsible for formulating and implementing the federal Executive Branch’s social communication and dissemination policy, promoting the federal government’s relationship with the press, formulating and implementing actions to access information, exercise rights and combat misinformation, among other actions.
Pepper’s Future
Paulo Pimenta, who is on leave from his mandate as federal deputy for Rio Grande do Sul, informed that he will take about a week of vacation, to rest with his family, and only then will he present himself again to President Lula to define his future in some other position within government or on another political mission, which may include returning to the Chamber of Deputies.
“I’m going to talk to the president about what my tasks are, my functions, what I’m going to do moving forward. I asked him, then, to give me at least these days, so that I’m not assigned now to any another role and I have to, once again, postpone the possibility of having a week of vacation, ten days of vacation”, he stated.
