Flavio Bolsonaro, a presidential candidate of the right-wing PL party and the son of former president Jair Bolsonaro, pledged on Thursday (17) to declare war on what he called "narco-terrorism" and accused the justices of Brazil's Supreme Federal Tribunal (STF) of shielding fellow justice Alexandre de Moraes. He spoke during a campaign motorcycle rally, known in Brazil as a "motociata", in Vitoria da Conquista, in the state of Bahia, according to the news site G1.
The senator arrived in the city by plane and addressed the crowd from a sound truck after the convoy rode through the main streets and avenues. The rally ended in front of a soccer stadium. Bolsonaro promised to classify criminal factions and militias as terrorist organizations and to step up the fight against those groups.
"I will rescue this Brazil for real. From January of next year, you can write it down. I will declare war on narco-terrorism. (...) And your days are numbered, because from next year on, you will either be arrested or neutralized by our police," he said.
In another passage, Bolsonaro used the word "disgust" when he talked about the court debate over the validity of a Federal Police report involving Moraes. He said the justice "is no longer in a position" to remain on the court and said he will appoint new justices.
"As president of the republic, I will have the right to four seats. To place there men and women who are against drugs, who are against abortion, who respect the Constitution, who do not use the pen to persecute the opponents of the government of the day. Except it will not be four, it will be five, because Alexandre de Moraes is no longer in a position to continue" at the court, he said.
The Moraes case at the STF
The merits of the case, meaning whether the full court will open an investigation into Moraes, have not yet been examined. In Tuesday's session (15), the justices heard a procedural motion filed by Gilmar Mendes and Flavio Dino that called for joining the related cases, reassigning the reporting justice by lottery and opening a window for the Attorney General's Office to weigh in. After Dino asked for more time, the tally ended 4 votes to 3 to keep separate the reviews of Moraes's conduct, in his relationship with businessman Daniel Vorcaro, and of Justice Andre Mendonca's handling of the report on the Banco Master case. Dino has up to 90 days, until December, to return the case to the full bench.
The promises made in Bahia follow the public security plan "Brasil Sem Medo" (Brazil Without Fear), which Bolsonaro presented in June in Sao Paulo, according to the news site Poder360. The package has 12 measures, including the classification of criminal factions as narco-terrorist organizations, a lower age of criminal responsibility, federal prisons modeled on El Salvador's and a national facial recognition system. At the same rally, the candidate called the 15% increase in the Bolsa Familia welfare payment announced by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva "illegal" and "an act of desperation", according to Reuters. "The Bolsa Familia is guaranteed, nobody will touch that benefit of yours," he said.
From southwestern Bahia, Bolsonaro flew to Brasilia for the next stops of his campaign. The first round of the presidential election is on October 4. At the STF, the decision on whether to open an investigation into Moraes depends on the reporting justice returning the case, with a deadline in December.