During his speech in 2026, which took place this Monday (2), the president (PT) praised operations that targeted organized crime financiers, in yet another quote regarding the so-called “upstairs”.
“With the Hidden Carbon operation, the Judiciary, the Federal Police and the Federal Revenue reached the leaders of organized crime. Crime tycoons, who live on the top floor, who are not in the communities, but in some of the most noble addresses in Brazil and abroad”, he declared.
The operation cited by Lulaque involved the PCC faction (Primeiro Comando da Capital), managers of Faria Lima and the fuel sector.
Last year, Lula did not speak at the opening session of the judicial year — which marks the resumption of Justice work after the recess. The choice to speak is up to the President of the Republic and occurs, this year, at a time of internal tensions in the Supreme Court, amid the scandal, whose rapporteur of the court case is the minister.
The magistrate is at the center of discussions about the case, which also boosted the debate about a code of conduct in the court. Reporter of the Banco Master investigation, Toffoli traveled by jet with one of the lawyers in the case at the end of November. Furthermore, they associate their brothers with an investment fund linked to the financial institution.
The investigations showed the magistrate’s proximity to one of the lawyers in the case, raising questions about his position in reporting the case.
On the topic, the president of the has already stated that the investigation.
Lula has already publicly spoken out critically about the bank’s fraud. In mid-January, the president met, at Palácio do Planalto, authorities involved in the investigation to discuss the issue. Among them, the minister of the STF, the director of the Revenue, Robinson Barreirinhas, and the president of the , Gabriel Galípolo.
After the meeting, the PT member referred to the investigations surrounding the as a historic moment for the country and said that, during the inauguration ceremony of his new Minister of Justice, .
As shown by Sheethe also expressed in the report and showed signs that he does not intend to defend the minister.
In this Monday’s speech, Lula also cited the trial of the coup plot carried out by the STF and, without mentioning by name former president Jair Bolsonaro or the other defendants in the action, said that “the conviction of the coup plotters left a clear message”, that “those responsible for any future attempt at democratic rupture will be punished again with the rigor of the law”.
Afterwards, he also highlighted the role of the Electoral Court and said that this year’s elections pose enormous challenges to the institution and that it needs to have “modern technological tools” and be able to “act with rigor, speed and precision”. “This is the challenge that is imposed not only on the Electoral Court, but on democracy itself”, he declared.
“Abuse of economic power, manipulation of public opinion through criminal shooting, misuse of the resources of digital platforms’ algorithms, hiring of influencers in digital networks to attack opponents, use of artificial intelligence to falsify photographs, audios and videos of anyone, producing parallel realities”, were the examples cited by the president as being traps in the electoral context.
Lula also spoke about the issue of violence against women and mentioned the “Brazilian Pact to Combat Feminicide”, which should be signed between the three Powers this Wednesday (4).
“Murderers and aggressors must be punished with all the rigor of the law, but it is also necessary to educate boys. And make men aware that nothing, absolutely nothing, justifies any form of violence against girls and women. Whether in reality or in the digital environment.”
Statements on the topic became more recurrent in Lula’s speeches after recent episodes of repercussion across the country. Throughout his term, however, the president accumulates mistakes and mistakes that are considered sexist. In one of them, when condemning domestic violence, he said jokingly that “if the guy is a Corinthians fan, that’s fine.”
