Senator Flávio Bolsonaro (PL-RJ) adopted a more conciliatory tone when commenting on the visit that the governor of São Paulo, Tarcísio de Freitas (Republicans), will make this Thursday to former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL), imprisoned in the 19th Military Police Battalion of the Federal District (PM-DF), the “Papudinha”. The statement contrasts with last week’s speech, when the senator himself anticipated the content of the conversation between the two and contributed to the discomfort that led the governor to cancel the first meeting.
“My father will really enjoy having Tarcísio there. I think it will be good for them to chat. It will be more of a chat between friends. If it’s up to me, the right will be united,” Flávio told GLOBO.
The speech marks a change in stance. Last Wednesday, the senator stated that Bolsonaro would tell Tarcísio that his priority should be re-election in São Paulo and that a presidential candidacy would be “ruled out” for the governor.
Opportunity with security!
The statement was read around Tarcísio as an attempt at public framing and helped to raise the political temperature around a meeting that had been treated as a personal gesture of solidarity. Hours later, the governor canceled the visit under the formal justification of commitments in the state.
The new authorization for the meeting was given by Minister Alexandre de Moraes, of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), who scheduled the meeting for Thursday, between 11am and 1pm. According to interlocutors, the rescheduling seeks precisely to reduce the wear and tear caused by the cancellation and restore the “personal” nature of the conversation, preventing the gesture from being interpreted as an act of automatic electoral alignment.
This will be the first meeting between Bolsonaro and Tarcísio since the former president’s arrest, at the end of November — and also the first conversation between the two after Bolsonaro nominated Flávio as his pre-candidate for Planalto, in December. The movement occurs amid the internal dispute within Bolsonarism over the design of the 2026 succession and the role that the São Paulo governor should play in this arrangement.
Continues after advertising
After canceling his first visit, Tarcísio tried to contain speculation about the national scenario and publicly reinforced his position. In a publication in X, he wrote that he is a candidate for re-election in São Paulo and that he works for a “united and strong right”, adding that he would visit Bolsonaro to provide “support and solidarity”.
Behind the scenes, allies of the governor say that the strategy is not to close doors, but also not to make new commitments now. The orientation is to push any clearer definition about the degree of engagement in the presidential dispute until April, under the argument that, with Bolsonaro in prison and the conservative camp in relocation, each gesture has been interpreted as a definitive sign of alignment.
