Jair Bolsonaro’s team is gathering C-level names from the private sector to hire for key government positions, in case he wins the presidential runoff on Oct. 28th. Many are already close to Paulo Guedes, the candidate’s key economic advisor.
The list has names like Alexandre Bettamio, Bank of America’s CEO for Latin America, João Cox, president of the board at cellphone carrier TIM, and Sergio Eraldo de Salles Pinto, from investment firm Bozano Investimentos, where Guedes is CEO.
For the campaign team, Bettamio is suited for the presidency of state bank Banco do Brasil, given his experience. The others are being considered for other key positions, but the actual offers will only happen after the election.
From finance come other “parachutists”, as these executives are being called behind the scenes. Their mission is to bring some real-world experience from the private sector, since Bolsonaro’s party, PSL, doesn’t have enough people with technical knowledge in its ranks to fill all positions in the cabinet, ministries, state companies and so on. One of the main arguments to attract these finance executives would be the promise that they could work without political interference.
Other names are Maria Silvia Bastos Marques, Goldman Sachs CEO in Brazil and former BNDES president, and Roberto Campos Neto, director at Santander and grandson of a famous Brazilian liberal economist. He could take over Brazil’s Central Bank in case the first option, current president Ilan Goldfajn, chooses to leave his position.
Translated by NATASHA MADOV