Yara Aquino      Reporter Agência Brasil

Brasília – President Dilma Rousseff’s top administrative aide (“ministro da Secretaria-Geral da Presidência”), Gilberto Carvalho, made it clear that the Land Use Law (“Código Florestal”) approved in the Chamber of Deputies Wednesday evening was not what the government hoped for.

“It is public knowledge that we expected something similar to what was approved in the Senate. The executive branch has a constitutional right to a veto and the president will analyze the bill calmly, serenely and without animosity,” declared Carvalho. [the Chamber of Deputies made around 20 changes to the bill that came out of the Senate at the end of last year].

Asked if the vote was a victory of the rural caucus (“bancada rural”) [and a defeat for the executive branch], Carvalho sidestepped the question and described the situation in Congress as a “correlation of forces.”

Carvalho went on to say that president Dilma would take into consideration the repercussion of the bill at the upcoming Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development. “But even more important than Rio+20 is the creation of a truly sustainable development program for Brazil,” the minister said.

The final text of the Land Use Law approved was profoundly different from the Land Use Law approved by the Senate. The changes, made by deputy Paulo Piau (PMDB-MG) (“relator”), were satisfactory to members of the rural caucus [but not the executive branch]. The government and environment activists were surprised by the defeat of the bill they favored as it was believed to have the support of most the farm lobby (landowner-farmers), environmental activists and many deputies.

Allen Bennett – translator/editor The News in English - content modified

Link - Código Florestal: Gilberto Carvalho diz que Dilma analisará com “serenidade” possibilidade de veto