The senator (-RJ) once again emphasized promises in the area of public security as a way of opposing the president (PT), during an event in , this Saturday (20), which marked the launch of the pre-candidacy for the Senate of state deputy André do Prado (PL), president of Alesp (Legislative Assembly).
“We’re not going to get used to living in fear anymore. We launched the ‘Brazil Without Fear’ program, because those who have to be afraid are bums. That’s why I’m going to open more than 500,000 places in the penitentiary system to arrest drug traffickers, narco-terrorists from the Red Command, the PCC, the militia and also cell phone thief”, said Flávio, last Thursday (18).
“I will be radical in public safety,” he added.
Before being linked to the Banco Master scandal, Flávio avoided presenting himself as someone radical and .
This Saturday, screens at the entrances and on the sides of the hall displayed figures animated by AI (artificial intelligence) of former president Jair Bolsonaro, so that activists could take photos with him – who is serving a sentence at home, in Brasília, for having led the coup plot at the end of his term. Bolsonaro was mentioned on stage during the speeches and an audio recorded by him during the 2018 campaign was played.
In his 20-minute speech, the senator accused the current president of being condescending towards criminals and attributed responsibility for the INSS mafia scandal to the government. “We are going to turn the page on a government that goes out there to lobby in favor of the Red Command and the PCC. We are going to have a government that treats them as terrorists,” he said.
Flávio cited the fact that one of the president’s brothers, José Ferreira da Silva, known as Frei Chico, was vice-president of one of the unions in which the deviations occurred, and cited the connection between Fábio Luís Lula da Silva, known as Lulinha, the president’s son, with the lobbyist Antônio Carlos Camilo Antunes, known as Careca from the INSS.
“Lula’s son disappeared from Brazil, he received an allowance from Careca from the INSS. The Brazilian retiree’s money could be in his account in Europe,” he stated.
The Federal Police, which is investigating the INSS scandal, investigated alleged payments from Careca to Lulinha, but to Lula’s son.
Flávio was wearing a Brazilian team t-shirt with the name of Neymar, a striker mocked by Lula on Friday (19), who called him a “home office player”. The senator left the event without speaking to the press.
The ceremony in which Flávio spoke took place in an event house in Guarulhos, in the metropolitan region, decorated with screens that displayed the PL acronym and the party number. The Bolsonaro ticket in São Paulo —formed by the governor (Republicans), who will seek re-election, in addition to André do Prado and Guilherme Derrite (PP), who are expected to run for the Senate— presented itself to the public.
In his speech, lasting around 15 minutes, Tarcísio also criticized the Lula government, this time focused on the economic area. “We are not taking advantage of our vocations, our potential, the vocation of biotechnology, the vocation of energy transition, food security, the knowledge economy. We are falling behind. We are becoming poorer in relation to our peers and we can do more.”
National leaders of the party, such as federal deputy Sóstenes Cavalcanti, senator Rogério Marinho and president Valdemar Costa Neto, attended, in addition to the state and federal PL benches. Espaço Inter, the venue for the event, has a capacity for 7,000 people and was practically full.
Former federal deputy Eduardo Bolsonaro (PL), sentenced to 4 years and 2 months in prison for trying to interfere in the process of the coup attempt, appeared in a video to endorse André’s candidacy.
Until 2025, the agreement negotiated by PL, Republicans, PP, PSD and União Brasil was for Eduardo to run for the Senate. With his move to the United States and the consequent loss of his mandate, the former president’s son made an agreement with André do Prado and gave him the position.
Eduardo was considered to be André’s reserve, but now he is ineligible. The party maintains that it will maintain its candidacy, despite the ineligibility, and has not yet appointed a replacement.
“André is one of our people and will defend amnesty in the Senate,” said Renato Bolsonaro, brother of the former president, who is expected to run for the Legislative Assembly for the PL.
Former governor Rodrigo Garcia (Republicans), defeated by Tarcísio in 2022 and who later became closer to the current governor, spoke in favor of André and Flávio and criticized the Lula government: “Our country can no longer continue in the hands of the PT”.
One of the campaign songs shown at the event featured Lula’s “olê, olê, olá”, but instead of the president’s name, it said the senator’s name.
