The newly appointed officials of the Communications Ministry recruited from the leadership of telecommunications industry labor unions have begun to adopt a far less radical tone than reported last week in our coverage of the January 1 meetings held by Communications Minister Miro Teixeira, where slogans like ?Down with privatization!? could be heard. Sources who have talked to these officials say they?ve been told to align with the Government?s overall moderation and act in accordance with the law. Similar impressions have been gathered by PAY-TV News in informal conversations. ?It?s one thing to be a union leader and quite another to be a government official,? says a source. ?The ministry has to work on behalf of the nation.? The shift toward moderation suggests that certain events may not occur at all or will take longer than originally threatened. An audit of the privatization process, for example, isn?t a priority, and there are no plans even to investigate scandals like the BNDES illegal wiretap. Changes to the model to create a large Brazilian-owned player are also unlikely to proceed now since they would require legislation too sensitive to pass Congress. The Communications Ministry is to be restructured by May but the proposed creation of a telecommunications department will go forward only if it?s clear that the Government needs it and can justify any extra expenditure required.
Anatel
What to do about Anatel, the telecommunications regulator, is a sore point for the new Government. The law states that the President can nominate a new director-general but he or she must be one of the directors already in office. President Luís Inácio Lula da Silva and his closest aides see the board of Anatel as the creature of his predecessor, President Fernando Henrique Cardoso, and are therefore loath to make changes for now. If a director quits, however, they could take the opportunity to put one of their own men on the board. This too is unlikely, judging from the explicit plans of the incumbent directors.
Broadcasting
In the sphere of broadcast radio and TV, all we know is that Communications Minister Miro Teixeira has so far listened more to his own aides than to the unions. Nothing is likely to happen until a decision is taken on who will head the broadcasting department.
