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SÃO PAULO – A rape charge against Gean Loureiro (DEM), mayor of Florianópolis and a candidate for reelection, became the main topic of the election campaign in the city this week. The case occurred in 2019, but was made public Wednesday by a former city official.
Rosana Ferrari, who is running for the position of councilor of the DEM, Loureiro’s party, registered a police report in October last year, in which she accuses the mayor of having had sex with her on two occasions while she was working in the Municipal Secretary Tourism, between 2017 and 2019.
According to Ferrari, between the end of 2017 and the beginning of 2018, the mayor closed the door of the office where she was located and invested in her, who, in a state of shock, could not react. She reports having anxiety attacks after the episode, but did not tell anyone.
The second case occurred, he said, on October 10, 2019, when he received a message from the superintendent secretary saying that the mayor would use the office he was in for a meeting. Rosana Ferrari says that, “fearing that Gean would invest against him again, he put his cell phone to record.” He reported the sexual act the same day. Photos taken by Ferrari circulate on social media.
Married and with children, Gean Loureiro recorded a video this Thursday morning in which he claimed to be “the victim of an electoral setup.” He assumed the existence of a sexual relationship, which he describes as consensual, and said he was not proud of the betrayal, “a painful issue that my wife and I have been dealing with within the four walls of our home.”
“I will not remain silent before this desperate attempt, this montage (of) that they are victimizing me. A few days before the elections, they are trying to do a consensual act between two adults, which happened there in 2019, a cowardly target, with the use of a hidden camera on purpose, ”declared the mayor.
Wanted by GLOBO, Rosana Ferrari did not return. His attorney declined to comment. G1 denies political motivation:
“It doesn’t help me at all politically. So it’s not politically motivated at all,” the woman said. He also claims not to have any extramarital relationship with Loureiro.
For observers of the electoral race, the DEM must maintain the narrative that it was only an extramarital affair, a private problem, and focus on the supposed “electoral framework.” Behind the scenes, the mayor’s supporters are using the episode to praise it as a “flirtation.” Several memes and messages circulate on WhatsApp disqualifying Rosana Ferrari.
Opponents of Gean Loureiro in the elections claim that the episode has the power to implode or at least melt his enormous advantage at the polls. Two weeks before the elections, he is ahead, with 44% voting intentions according to the latest Ibope poll. The runner-up in the electoral contest, Angela Amin (PP), has 15% of the voting intentions, almost 30 percentage points behind the mayor. Pedrão (PL) has 9% and Elson Pereira (PSOL), 7%.
Elson’s campaign should not use the case as electoral ammunition, but the candidate will charge investigations for breach of decorum, as Loureiro used his position to gain sexual advantage.
The PSOL should be closer to the victim, although the members of the campaign do not reject the electoral interest in the prosecution. In addition to being a candidate for councilor, Rosana Ferrari is close to the PP of the Amin clan, the mayor’s main opponent in the dispute, which causes caution in the rest of the candidates to explore the accusation.
In addition, there is proximity between a government wing and the PP itself. Angela Amin’s deputy, for example, is the current deputy mayor, João Batista Nunes (PSDB), separated from Gean Loureiro.
Candidate Pedrão was asked about the matter during a live broadcast on social media on Thursday night. He affirmed that he will wait for the investigations to progress before he can speak, a position that must be maintained throughout the campaign. The assessment is that taking advantage of the episode to attack the mayor can give the impression that the electorate is “mounted” with a view to wearing down the president.
