Rio City Council officials try to stop the press from showing citizen complaints | National newspaper

Rocha Faria Municipal Hospital, Rio West Zone: the live interview of the resident who charged a transfer to her mother was brutally interrupted: “Ridiculous people, making biased reports. It’s Bolsonaro!” The assaults by the two men continued even after the report ended.

In the same hospital, a few days later, they hampered another team of reporters who tried to listen to people. Then one of the men put on his badge and went into the hospital.

These attacks do not happen by chance, on the contrary, they are organized. And, believe me, for the government. The aggressors are hired by the City Council, they receive salaries paid by the taxpayer to guard the doors of hospitals and clinics to shame journalists and citizens who denounce health problems in the city of Rio.

The reporting team was the Salgado Filho Municipal Hospital, in the North Zone. As he began to speak, the first interviewee was interrupted.

Man interrupting the interview: “Don’t do that, dear …”.
Interviewee: “Hello? Why? I lost a finger and I can’t speak? I’m not talking about the hospital, brother. I’m talking about Rocha Miranda. Do you understand?”
Man: “Ah, okay. But you came here …”
Interviewee: They treated me here.
Man: But they have taken good care of you here.
Interviewee: My friend … I’m talking about Rocha Miranda.
Journalist: Can’t you talk about health?
Man no!
Journalist: Can you let him talk about health?
Man: Everything is fine, dear. For the love of God!
Reporter: José Robério Vicente … He is José Robério.
Man: The city works properly and well.
Journalist: Who is working well?
Man: Sure the mayor is working well, boy, in Salud. What is this business, boy? No sir, no sir. That’s fake news, my dear.
Reporter: Ricardo Barbosa de Miranda, is hired by the City Council, assistant III. You have a reliable job, right? Are you available for the mayor’s office?

Journalist: Is this where you fulfill your employment contract with the City Council?
José Robério: We are here, dear. We are here.
Journalist: Is this where you do your work at City Hall?
José Robério: Everything is at peace, everything is at peace.
Journalist: Why are you being paid the City Hall salary?
José Robério: Everything is fine.
Reporter: What is the job? Where did you hit the spot?
José Robério: We are here, we are here.
Journalist: Where did you hit the spot?
José Robério: We are working here.

José Robério Vicente Adeliano has been an employee of the City Council since 2018 with a special position; earn R $ 3,229. With him is Ricardo Barbosa de Miranda, who also works at the City Council since 2018 as an assistant, and receives R $ 3,422.

They are part of three groups of conversations by demand that bring together public officials whose mission is to eliminate the right of people to speak and be informed.

TV Globo had access to the content of the groups “Assessoria Especial GBP” – mayor’s office -, “Plantão” and “Guardiões do Crivella”, appointed by the mayor of Rio, Marcelo Crivella. The routine in the groups begins with the reception of a scale to know where they will complete another day of work. And when they arrive early at the units, they have to register their presence, send selfies from the place where they are: “Hospital Souza Aguiar, I arrived early”, “Good morning colleagues. Another day at Albert Schweitzer”, “Pedro II Team”, “Hospital Evandro Freire – Beto e Dani”.

After hitting this type of electronic point, these officials monitor and report everything that happens at the door of the health units. Cell phone in hand and always close to the story, waiting to act.

In Rocha Faria, as we have shown, they were: Marcelo Dias Ferreira, in the mayor’s office since 2018 with a special position and a salary of R $ 2,788, and Luiz Carlos Joaquim da Silva, Dentinho, hired in 2019, earns R $ 4,195.

Dentinho has several photos with Marcello Crivella on social networks, from the campaign for the City Council. In the group records, you can see that they were charged for what the group bosses deemed a failure. The reporter made live entries without interference.

Someone identified only as ‘ML’ sends the photo from the TV and writes: “Who is in Rocha? Guys, very sad. We don’t drop the material ”. And he warns: “There can be no lack or delay. We failed at Rocha Faria. Unacceptable”.

After the reprimand, the team of attackers was reinforced and managed to disturb the report and celebrated: “I think it is not live. I think they are doing material for later, but they tried to enter several times and we interrupted them all those times ”.

“ML” gives the orders in the group: “Score hard there, eh? It doesn’t give them a hard time. If you start talking badly, you are Globolixo in them.”

“ML” is Marcos Paulo de Oliveira Luciano. Another that publishes several photos with the mayor. When he won an homage in the Legislative Assembly from a deputy linked to Crivella, his resume revealed his proximity to the mayor. He worked as a missionary with Crivella in Africa and Northeast Brazil. He was one of the coordinators of the bishop’s electoral campaigns.

Since 2017, Marcos Luciano, the “ML”, is a special advisor to the mayor’s office. In July, the salary was R $ 10,500. “The whole system is in charge of Dr. Marcos Luciano. Dr. Marcos Luciano is a friend of Crivella. He is the chief general ”, he says.

The speaker is one of the City contractors who was part of the group. He says the tactic started late last year and increased during the pandemic: “We have this mission there, for more than 8 months. It used to work, but when it entered Covid, in March, it stayed every day. There is a duty in the units to be able to restrict the press ”.

People for that is not lacking. You can see that they are groups with a large number of participants. One of the phones appears to be registered to the mayor. JN discovered that Marcelo Crivella already used this number. We called; nobody answered.

“The mayor, accompanies the reports in the group and sometimes writes there: Congratulations! That’s it!”

The Rio City Council has not denied the existence of the groups. He affirmed that he reinforced assistance in municipal health units to better inform the population and avoid risks to public health. And he claimed that false information could lead people not to seek treatment.

The Brazilian Press Association said that the repeated episodes at the doors of hospitals show that we are not facing isolated events, but rather a policy of the mayor to constrain journalists and citizens. ABI reaffirmed its commitment to freedom of expression and will uphold these principles.

The National Association of Newspapers regretted that the employees of the Rio de Janeiro City Council are hampering journalistic activity and stated that the biggest losers are the citizens of Rio, to whom these employees must provide their services and from whom they receive their salaries.