Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, the PL party's candidate for president of Brazil and son of former president Jair Bolsonaro, announced on Thursday (27) that he will meet on Sunday (30) with Gustavo Villatoro, El Salvador's justice minister, to discuss public security policies. The announcement came during the candidate's weekly livestream on YouTube, according to G1 and InfoMoney.
"Villatoro is simply the justice minister of El Salvador, a country that stood out worldwide for having practically zeroed out crime, a place that was dominated by criminal gangs of drug traffickers, much like what happens here in Brazil today," Flávio said during the broadcast.
"El Salvador's homicide rate was 128 per 100,000 inhabitants, one of the highest in the world. It was one of the most violent countries in the world. Today that rate is below 2 per 100,000 inhabitants. El Salvador became one of the safest countries, and that is why we say it is indeed an inspiration for what we intend to do here in Brazil on public security," the senator added.
The government of Nayib Bukele, president of El Salvador since 2019, has been cited as a security reference by right-wing candidates in Brazil. Besides Flávio, Renan Santos (Missão) and Romeu Zema (Novo) have also praised the Salvadoran model, according to G1. Bukele's measures, however, draw criticism: the country built megaprisons and jailed thousands of people without warrants under a state of emergency. The Salvadoran government faces accusations of human rights violations, as InfoMoney notes.
New names on the campaign
The livestream featured Daniella Marques, former president of state-owned bank Caixa Econômica Federal and the campaign's economic coordinator. According to the candidate, the team gained economist Adriano Pires, a former director of the National Petroleum Agency (ANP), and Adolfo Sachsida, a former mines and energy minister. Flávio also said the team includes "eight PhDs in economics".
In the same broadcast, the senator again criticized the tax reform approved in 2023. He called the estimated 28% rate of the future value-added tax (IVA) "worrying". "There cannot be a good tax reform that raises taxes, it has to cut taxes," he said, according to InfoMoney.
The meeting with Villatoro is set for Sunday (30). Before that, Flávio promised to announce another campaign team name on Friday (28). The candidate did not disclose the location or the agenda of the meeting with the Salvadoran minister.