After dismissing four municipal secretaries linked to the Secretary of the Civil House, Marcelo Aro, from Belo Horizonte City Hall, Fuad Noman (PSD), head of the capital’s Executive, made official the names of some replacements this Tuesday morning (2/4 ).
Of the four departments that lost their leaders, only one officially gained a new head: the Municipal Secretary of the Government, responsible for coordinating municipal executions with bodies and entities, including the Legislative Branch.
The position will now be occupied by Anselmo José Gomes Domingos, former state deputy for two terms (2010-2018) for the extinct Christian Labor Party (PTC), who became the target of an investigation conducted by the Public Ministry (MP) into alleged irregularities related to the compensation budget for his office at the Legislative Assembly of Minas Gerais (ALMG).
Anselmo was born in Campos Altos, in Alto Paranaíba, son of councilor José Domingos. He began his political career alongside his father, in the Barreiro region, in the 1980s. He is currently affiliated with União Brasil.
In addition to holding the position in the Assembly, Fuad’s new secretary was a BH councilor for five terms (2004-2010).
Unlike the former head of the department, Castellar Neto, Anselmo is close to the president of the National Congress, senator Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG), responsible for the request for the dismissal of those linked to Marcelo Aro’s political group. Anselmo even worked in Pacheco’s office.
Castellar Neto was known for being Aro’s right-hand man within Belo Horizonte City Hall. He found himself involved in controversies when opposition councilors, led by the president of the Chamber of Councilors, Gabriel Azevedo (MDB) – rival of Zema’s secretary -, accused him of ignoring projects and hindering coordination.
During his term as head of the Municipal Secretariat, responsible, among other things, for interlocution with the City Council, none of the City Hall secretaries attended calls from opponents to provide clarifications to the Council.
As stated by Estado de Minas, in the column of journalist Orion Teixeira, it was Rodrigo Pacheco who demanded the departure of the “Aro Family” from Belo Horizonte City Hall. This was the condition required by the senator to align himself with Fuad’s re-election candidacy.
It is worth remembering that, in the last two years, Fuad has already made 18 changes of secretaries official. Since the end of March 2022, when he took office as City Hall with the resignation of Alexandre Kalil (PSD), 34 different secretaries have passed through the 16 municipal secretariats.
So far, the departure of those appointed by Aro should not cause harm to the mayor in the City Council. Even with the dismissals, the councilors linked to secretary Romeu Zema (Novo) must remain as a government base in the Legislature.
However, the new dismissals indicate a risk to the political survival of Marcelo Aro, who had aspirations of running for government in 2026. The secretary gained considerable political influence by promising Romeu Zema that he would neutralize Alexandre Kalil (PSD), when the former -mayor ran for government of Minas Gerais. Upon winning the Civil House secretariat, he committed to Fuad to eliminate Gabriel Azevedo.
However, without fulfilling any of these promises, he found himself challenged by Rodrigo Pacheco, who was also instrumental in Gabriel’s victory in the Chamber, after the councilor was the target of two impeachment requests.
Fuad’s interims
Chyara Sales Pereira temporarily assumes the Municipal Secretariat for Economic Development, previously occupied by the member of the “Aro Family”, Fernando Campos Motta.
With a PhD in International Relations from PUC Minas and a Master’s degree in Sociology from UFMG, she led the International Relations Office of the Government of Minas Gerais and acted as a consultant for FIEMG in international cooperation. Currently, she is a collaborating professor in the Postgraduate Program in International Relations at PUC Minas.
Gelson Antônio Leite also temporarily takes over the Municipal Environment Secretariat, which was previously led by José Reis Nogueira de Barros, also linked to the Secretary of the Civil House. The new secretary also presides over the Belo Horizonte Municipal Parks and Zoobotany Foundation.
Finally, Fernanda de Siqueira Neves takes over the Municipal Education Department on an interim basis, replacing Roberta Rodrigues Martins Vieira. Previously, she held the position of Undersecretary for People Management.
As determined by the report, there is still no deadline set for the officialization/replacement of the names indicated by Fuad. O State of Minas questioned PBH about the matter, but received no response.
Other nominees
In addition to the dismissed secretaries, Fuad is also expected to dismiss 70 nominees in commissioned positions in the secretariats commanded by the “Aro Family”. The request was also made by senator Rodrigo Pacheco.
The expectation is that everyone will leave their positions. It is worth mentioning that many of them will be candidates for councilor.
