Who Funds the Music? Unveiling the Top Donor to Melo’s Campaign

The Instituto Cultural Floresta, a group of 55 of the wealthiest businesspeople in Porto Alegre, is heavily invested in the political landscape. These companies, ranging from real estate to agribusiness, have close ties to the government of Eduardo Melo, who is blamed for the city’s flooding due to their failure to maintain drainage systems. Notable members of this group include Gerdau, Ling, Goldsztein, Vontobel, Fração, Zafari, and Logemann. The institute has known ties to the far-right website Brasil Paralelo, a platform notorious for spreading misinformation and conspiracy theories. Ricardo Gomes, Melo’s vice mayor, is also associated with Brasil Paralelo. The institute’s president, Leonardo Fração, is a major contributor to Melo’s political campaign. In 2018, the institute donated R$14 million to the Brigada Militar, the state police force, and recently donated 1,200 pistols to the police. This financial influence raises concerns about the institute’s potential role in shaping public policies and law enforcement strategies for their own benefit. The article calls for breaking with the traditional alliance between the left-wing party PT and the center-left, arguing that a worker-centric political strategy is necessary to fight against the influence of these powerful business interests and their associated organizations.