The operation in which leads the right, in the figure of the governor (), and the left, represented by the president (), to dispute perspectives on public security in the scenario that anticipated the 2026 electoral debate, according to political scientists interviewed by Sheet.
The police action in the history of Rio, under the responsibility of the state government, occurred at a time when the federal PT administration was trying to paste its image into measures for the area, but with a proposal to combat crime from a non-violent front, such as the operation , against fraud and money laundering schemes, and changes in legislation, such as .
On the other hand, Castro’s action, called “Containment”, reinforces the commitment of sectors of the right to capitalize electorally on a formula that attracts part of the population — with the message of taking to the streets, even with violent conduct, and that “a good criminal is a dead criminal”.
The electoral clash was made clear, according to experts, when Castro said he was acting alone in the fight against crime and spoke of a lack of support from the Lula government, generating a reaction from the Minister of Justice, Ricardo Lewandowski, and the Minister of Institutional Relations.
For Beto Vasques, professor of political communication at FESPSP (Fundação Escola de Sociologia e Política de ) and director of institutional relations at Instituto Democracia em Xeque, this type of operation, according to him with a “strong electoral bias”, usually generates positive political activity in a population concerned about the situation in which the left and right struggle to solve problems.
Vasques recalls that Castro acted in a similar way in a period prior to 2022, with a police operation that he left in May 2021 and in May 2022.
Particularities of this Tuesday’s action, however, could cause the plan to backfire, in the expert’s assessment: the high lethality and the discourse about “being alone”, which could be interpreted by part of the electorate as fragility.
The political moment favorable to Lula is another factor that could affect the dispute over perspectives on public security.
In recent months, clashes with Congress and the government have led the PT government to reinforce its speeches of action in favor of the poorest and for the country’s sovereignty. The Security PEC, which aims to reinforce federal action in the area and which was also used as a flag in an issue considered to be an Achilles heel on the left.
Meanwhile, aeo, Ruy Ferraz Fontes, the governor of São Paulo, (Republicans).
In this scenario, says political scientist and electoral marketing specialist Elias Tavares, resuming the security agenda is an opportunity for the right, being an “important asset for any public manager”.
“It’s an interesting agenda for the right, which could come a little from the history of amnesty [ao ex-presidente Jair Bolsonaro] and start focusing on security, which is costly for this political field. The current polarization, in a way, nationalizes the debate, which could be restricted to Rio de Janeiro.”
Paulo Ramirez, political scientist and professor at ESPM (Escola Superior de Propaganda e Marketing), interprets Castro’s operation as an attempt to take his political field out of limbo and, mainly, the governor’s own image, who may seek a candidacy for the Senate in 2026.
For him, the action opens space for a narrative dispute polarized by the two political camps, with the Lula administration’s attempt to join the operation in Faria Lima against fintechs and Castro with a security policy of direct combat and “entering the favelas”.
This is a speech already explored by (PSOL) by the General Secretariat of the Presidency. “A president who knows that the head of organized crime in this country is not in a shack in a favela. He is often involved in money laundering in the [avenida] Faria Lima, as we saw in the Federal Police’s Operation Hidden Carbon”, he stated.
