Senator Flávio Bolsonaro (PL), pre-candidate for the Presidency of the Republic, presented this Thursday (18) a public security plan focused on tightening criminal legislation, expanding the prison system and strengthening the fight against criminal factions.
The package, called “Brazil Without Fear”, brings together 12 proposals that, for the most part, depend on legislative or constitutional changes to get off the ground.
The launch places public security in a central position in the senator’s electoral strategy. In opinion polls carried out in recent months, urban violence, organized crime and a sense of insecurity appear recurrently among the population’s biggest concerns, alongside corruption and the economy.
The plan seeks to reorganize historical flags of the Brazilian right at a time when Bolsonarism seeks to expand its base beyond the ideological electorate. The choice of topic also allows Flávio to contest terrain traditionally favorable to the conservative camp and put pressure on the Lula government in an area in which popular perception tends to be more negative than official indicators.
Combating organized crime
One of the main axes of the program is combating organized crime. Flávio proposes classifying the PCC, Red Command, militias and other criminal organizations as narco-terrorist groups, expanding legal instruments for investigation, blocking of resources and international cooperation.
The proposal gained strength in the political debate after the United States became .
In Brazil, the measure finds support among parliamentarians on the public security bench, but experts disagree about its practical effects, arguing that these organizations can already be the target of investigations and punishments for crimes such as criminal organization, international drug trafficking and money laundering.
In addition to the new legal classification, the plan foresees increasing investments in police intelligence, weapons and cooperation between the Union, states and municipalities to combat these organizations.
The program also foresees the creation of a National Border System, made up of members of the Armed Forces, to combat arms and drug trafficking along more than 16 thousand kilometers of Brazilian land borders.
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At ports, the proposal is to expand the presence of security forces in terminals considered strategic for international drug trafficking, such as Santos and Paranaguá.
Old proposals
A significant part of the package brings together themes that have been circulating in the National Congress for decades. Reducing the age of criminal responsibility from 18 to 16, one of the plan’s main objectives, has been discussed in Brasília since the 1990s.
PEC 171, presented in 1993, advanced in the Chamber of Deputies in 2015, but never completed its processing. Recently, the topic returned to the agenda after .
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In the document released this Thursday, Flávio goes beyond simply reducing the criminal age and defends more severe punishments for teenagers over 14 years old involved in crimes such as homicide, rape, torture and drug trafficking.
Another proposal taken up by the senator is chemical castration for those convicted of rape and sexual abuse against children. The topic has already been approved by the Senate in different versions over the last few years, but has faced resistance from human rights entities and questions about its constitutionality. In the plan, the measure is presented as an instrument to combat recurrence of these crimes.
The electoral strategy seems less focused on presenting novel solutions and more on signaling alignment with demands that surveys often indicate are popular among center and right-wing voters.
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Bukele Model
Another relevant axis of the program is the expansion of the prison system. Flávio proposes to build five new maximum security federal prisons inspired by the model adopted by the president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele.
Since launching his policy of mass incarceration to combat Salvadoran gangs, Bukele has been cited by conservative leaders in several Latin American countries. International human rights organizations, on the other hand, point to complaints of arbitrary arrests and restrictions on individual guarantees.
According to the plan, the new units would be integrated with the five existing federal penitentiaries to form a complex called TREVA. The proposal also foresees the creation of 500,000 new places in the prison system in four years and the isolation of criminal leaders considered highly dangerous.
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The document also provides for the end of the regime progression for heinous crimes and the full fulfillment of sentences for feminicides and others convicted of serious crimes.
These proposals encounter relevant legal obstacles. In recent decades, the Federal Supreme Court has consolidated understandings favorable to the individualization of punishment and regime progression, which indicates that any changes could face legal challenges even after possible approval by Congress.
Surveillance and monitoring
In the technological area, the program foresees the creation of the so-called “Brazilian Wall”, a national facial recognition system inspired by initiatives implemented in the city and state of São Paulo.
The proposal includes the integration of criminal databases and the installation of more than one million cameras in public spaces, airports and ports.
The use of this type of technology has advanced in different Brazilian states, especially after monitoring experiences that contributed to the capture of fugitives. At the same time, the expansion of surveillance systems has generated debates about privacy, protection of personal data and the risk of misidentification.
The plan also provides for electronic monitoring of female aggressors subject to protective measures, a topic that has already been adopted by some states on a limited basis and that has the support of entities linked to the protection of victims of domestic violence.
The political challenge
In addition to the proposals aimed at combating factions, toughening penalties and expanding surveillance, the program promises to double federal investments in public security and increase penalties for crimes linked to theft, theft and theft of cell phones.
Although some measures can be implemented through decrees, agreements or administrative reorganization, the main pillars of the plan depend on profound legislative changes.
In practice, proposals such as reducing the age of criminal responsibility, ending regime progression and changes to criminal execution rules would require a qualified majority in the National Congress. This helps to explain why most of the measures defended by Flávio have already been debated during different governments without reaching sufficient consensus for definitive approval.
