Interview1st round · August 20, 2026· CNN

ENTREVISTA COM MATEUS SIMÕES (PSD) AO GOVERNO DE MINAS GERAIS | CNN ELEIÇÕES

Interview with Mateus Simões · 102 statements transcribed and classified · about national security, public service, fiscal and social policy, betting. Click a statement to hear that moment in the video.

A CNN Brasil dá início, neste mês de agosto, a uma série de entrevistas com candidatos aos governos estaduais dentro de sua cobertura para as eleições deste ano. Em Minas Gerais, as conversas serão transmitidas ao vivo, às 21h10, na TV e YouTube.

Classified statements
102
Participants
1
Stances against
2
Stances in favor
62

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Classified statements

102 statements
  1. Mateus Simões

    Neutral

    About: maintain balanced public accounts

    "The former governor Romeu Zema's first term was about getting the accounts in order."
    Public BudgetMateus's profile
  2. Mateus Simões

    For

    About: maintain balanced public accounts

    "I was part of that rebalancing that allowed us to pay salaries, pay bills, and have public services functioning."
  3. Mateus Simões

    Neutral

    About: reduce unemployment

    "The second term, in 2022, when we were elected in the first round, was about employment."
    Monetary PolicyMateus's profile
  4. Mateus Simões

    Neutral

    About: reduce unemployment

    "And we went from a situation that was worse than the Brazilian average to the second-lowest unemployment in Brazil, the lowest in the Southeast, the lowest historical unemployment rate in Minas Gerais."
    Monetary PolicyMateus's profile
  5. Mateus Simões

    For

    About: increase average income of Minas Gerais residents

    "This next cycle is necessarily about income, about improving the... quality of life of people from Minas Gerais, who unfortunately, despite low unemployment, are still ninth in average income in Brazil."
  6. Mateus Simões

    For

    About: increase average income of Minas Gerais residents

    "So, this is a cycle focused on income, without, of course, losing sight of essential services."
  7. Desconhecido

    Neutral

    About: prohibit advertising and sponsorships from betting companies in public spaces

    "Governor, today you implemented a new rule in Minas Gerais, which is the prohibition of betting advertising in public spaces."
    Betting
  8. Mateus Simões

    Neutral

    About: prohibit advertising and sponsorships from betting companies in public spaces

    "The federal government confirmed that 37 billion reais are being drained per year from the economy and, therefore, from the lives of Brazilian families due to sports betting and other types of gambling — and that is only from the official lotteries."
    BettingMateus's profile
  9. Mateus Simões

    For

    About: prohibit advertising and sponsorships from betting companies in public spaces

    "This has been breaking up families; it has caused problems, including very serious violence."
    BettingMateus's profileView this statement
  10. Mateus Simões

    For

    About: prohibit advertising and sponsorships from betting companies in public spaces

    "And what I did was prohibit any public space of the State government from being used for the promotion of betting."
    BettingMateus's profileView this statement
  11. Mateus Simões

    For

    About: prohibit advertising and sponsorships from betting companies in public spaces

    "And I also canceled the betting contract that our lottery had, so that the state of Minas Gerais is no longer part of this very negative cycle."
    BettingMateus's profileView this statement
  12. Mateus Simões

    For

    About: prohibit advertising and sponsorships from betting companies in public spaces

    "I am also instructing all municipalities to do the same; I am sending to each one"
    BettingMateus's profileView this statement
  13. Mateus Simões

    For

    About: prohibit advertising and sponsorships from betting companies in public spaces

    "a draft decree for the municipality to be able to enact, because we have several stadiums in the state of Minas Gerais that are municipal, and the streets of the cities, obviously, can only be regulated by the municipalities."
    BettingMateus's profileView this statement
  14. Mateus Simões

    For

    About: prohibit advertising and sponsorships from betting companies in public spaces

    "I am regulating the state roads so far."
    BettingMateus's profileView this statement
  15. Mateus Simões

    For

    About: prohibit advertising and sponsorships from betting companies in public spaces

    "We have to fight this that has become a plague in Brazil."
    BettingMateus's profileView this statement
  16. Mateus Simões

    For

    About: reduce political polarization

    "Brazilians stopped discussing — at least for now, I hope this begins to reverse over the coming weeks — the big problems of Brazil and are discussing team loyalties, Fla-Flu, Cruzeiro and Atlético, to decide whether you are pro-Bolsonaro or pro-Lula."
  17. Mateus Simões

    Neutral

    About: implement responsible economic policies to promote stability and growth

    "Because, for example, the biggest problem Brazil faces today, which is the economic slowdown due to a real interest rate in double digits, is not being discussed by the two candidacies that are leading."
    Monetary PolicyMateus's profile
  18. Mateus Simões

    For

    About: not use public funds in political campaigns

    "And here in this state that Zema and I administer, we do not allow the use of the public machinery for the individual and personal promotion of any candidate."
  19. Mateus Simões

    For

    About: strengthen mechanisms for preventing and repressing corruption

    "So he represents what I like to see working in politics."
  20. Mateus Simões

    Against

    About: privatize Banco do Brasil

    "Yuri, the governor hasn't talked about that, hasn't talked about that with me lately, but I've repeated here that I have no intention of discussing the privatization of Semig."
  21. Mateus Simões

    For

    About: privatize Banco do Brasil

    "I intend to discuss the privatization of Gasmig, which is the company that handles our gas and is a subsidiary of Semig."
  22. Mateus Simões

    For

    About: privatize Banco do Brasil

    "We have just privatized Copasa in a process that was entirely led by me and that was very successful, both in terms of price and in terms of the conditions for universalizing sanitation services. Geramos, which is a public service provider for 600 municipalities in the State, will go through a transition to private management over the coming years."
  23. Mateus Simões

    Ambiguous

    About: privatize Banco do Brasil

    "That could change over time if Semig stops providing good service, because my logic on privatization is a bit different from the governor's today."
    Sale of Public AssetsMateus's profile
  24. Mateus Simões

    Neutral

    About: privatize Banco do Brasil

    "Moreover, because Governor Romeu Zema put CEMIG in much better shape, we can run it the way it is today."
    Sale of Public AssetsMateus's profile
  25. Mateus Simões

    Neutral

    About: keep permanent civil servants in their posts after restructuring

    "Edilene, in the case of Segov, the Secretariat of Government, the person currently acting for it is our former deputy secretary, who is a career state civil servant, not a politician."
  26. Mateus Simões

    For

    About: appoint a politician to the Secretariat of Government before the elections

    "So it's natural that at some point in the near future, probably before the election, I will make some change there so that when the deputies return to parliamentary work, we again have a politician in that position."
  27. Mateus Simões

    Neutral

    About: maintain political appointments in state administration (security and Women's Secretariat)

    "It's the only secretariat that over the two terms we have kept politicians in."
  28. Mateus Simões

    For

    About: maintain political appointments in state administration (security and Women's Secretariat)

    "in that secretariat, because that facilitates day-to-day dealings with the deputies, since Segov deals with the Assembly."
  29. Mateus Simões

    Neutral

    About: avoid political appointments to state-owned company leadership

    "Now, as for Semig, Semig is a listed company and the decision about the presidency is a decision that lies with the Board."
  30. Mateus Simões

    Neutral

    About: refrain from commenting on board changes due to CVM restrictions

    "Also due to CVM restrictions we do not comment on possible changes in the executive board, but it's possible, Edilene."
  31. Mateus Simões

    For

    About: keep the current president of Semig in the company's management

    "The presidency of Semiga is held by a person who has my absolute trust and who will not step away from the administration in any way, someone I trust a lot, Alexandre Peixoto."
  32. Mateus Simões

    Neutral

    About: allow position changes within the company when necessary

    "But of course it's possible to have changes in positions within the company."
    State-owned companiesMateus's profile
  33. Mateus Simões

    For

    About: defend the continuity of the current government administration in the campaign

    "I represent the current state administration, which achieved very positive results under the Bolsonaro government and under the Lula government."
  34. Mateus Simões

    For

    About: base the campaign on deliverables and management achievements

    "I continue to believe that my candidacy is a candidacy based on delivery and that part of the support I have from the population and from mayors is because of what has already been done over these past years."
  35. Mateus Simões

    For

    About: reduce state intervention in the economy

    "I am a center-right politician, I defend a less interventionist State, with a focus on police, security, infrastructure and education, but I think that in the end the question when comparing my proposals, which are of continuous progress, with those of Cleitinho and Flávio, which are very similar to mine, is who is capable of delivering those results?"
  36. Mateus Simões

    For

    About: align with the group's political line

    "I have been in the state's administration alongside former governor Romeu Zema for seven and a half years."
  37. Mateus Simões

    Neutral

    About: assume a role as management coordinator in the state government

    "I was the government's management coordinator that whole time."
    Public ServiceMateus's profile
  38. Mateus Simões

    For

    About: present management experience as a qualification for the presidency

    "And the mayors know that, the deputies know that, the population will perceive it, has been perceiving it with each new round."
  39. Mateus Simões

    Neutral

    About: treat the government as a continuation of previous actions

    "Of course, and I am very calm about this, every government is a continuation of what happened before."
    Fiscal and Social PolicyMateus's profile
  40. Mateus Simões

    For

    About: attribute fiscal results to previous government policies (description)

    "The disaster we inherited was partly built by Pimentel."

Topics discussed

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