The arrest on Wednesday (3) of the President of Alerg (Legislative Assembly of Rio de Janeiro), State Rep. Rodrigo Bacelar (UNB), by the Federal Police, buries the original plan of Claudio Castro (PL) for the Rio government elections in 2026 and reinforces the current crossroads of the right in the state.
Bacellar was, until July, Castro’s chosen running mate. The plan was for the deputy to represent the right, facing Mayor Eduardo Paes (PSD), who had already entered the conflict.
However, in six months, the President of Allerg went from a potential competitor, with the support of the machine, to marginalization and arrest, during which period disagreements accumulated with his supporters, with Castro himself and with the Bolsonaro family, with whom he tried to get closer, but was unable to do so.
And listen to politicians from all over the Castro Bound With reservations, they attribute one of the reasons why a right-wing name was not selected in the Rio elections to the governor himself.
They claim that Castro anticipated talk of elections when he traveled and allowed Basilar to take power on an interim basis, in July, placing confidence in a deputy whom some Bolsonarian representatives were already viewing with reservations, including senators Flavio Bolsonaro (PL-RJ) and Carlos Porteño (PL-RJ) and the leader of the Liberal Party in the chamber, Sostines Cavalcanti (RJ).
Elected as a deputy in 2018, he was the rapporteur of the impeachment committee of former Governor Wilson Wetzel, in 2020. The revocation of his term resulted in Claudio Castro, Wetzel’s deputy, being transferred to the Guanabara Palace.
Basilar was the governor’s favorite to succeed him. To this end, President Palacio Guanabara removed his deputy from the political game: Thiago Pampulha, who also wanted to be a candidate for governor, was appointed in May to the position of advisor to the TCE (Tribunal of State Audit). Basilar, the president of Allerg, thus became the second in the line of succession to the government.
Castro’s plan was to leave office by April 2026 to run for the Senate. Thus, Bacellar will have the governorship for six months until October, the month of the election. But the relationship became conflicted after Bacelar took over as governor on an interim basis and, without the consent of the incumbent, who was traveling to Portugal, fired the then government transportation secretary, Washington Reyes (MDB), over disagreements.
Upon entering the government of Rio de Janeiro, Flavio Bolsonaro considered the dismissal of Reis, an ally of Jair Bolsonaro (PL), a mistake and asked Castro to renominate him.
The governor insisted on dismissing him upon his return to Brazil, but the relationship with Basilar cooled. Bacellar has begun extending deadlines for projects sent by the executive to Alerj. Castro made statements that seemed indirect to the representative.
After the friction, Castro began to rethink his candidacy for the Senate so as not to make room for Batcelar in the government.
The head of União Brasil’s state guide, Basilar, even before his arrest, was considered out of the race by his supporters. Belford Roxo Mayor Márcio Canela (União Brasil) has said he wants to be a candidate, but is also not seen internally as a potential name.
The People’s Party, with which he declared the Union of Brazil, is close to Paes, has positions in the city council and is allied with MP Dotor Luisinho (PP-RJ). PL is analyzing the names, but has not yet reached a consensus. Eduardo Paes is the only name consolidated as a pre-candidate for the government.
Bacellar was arrested on suspicion of involvement in leaking information that former MP T.E. Goias, accused of mediating the Comando Vermelho negotiations, would be arrested in September. According to PF investigations, Basilar was already aware of the arrest since the day before the operation and tried to help TH in allegedly erasing the evidence.
In the arrest order, Minister Alexandre de Moraes, of the Federal Supreme Court, said that “the evidence is strong” that Basselar participated “in a criminal organization.”
The report contacted União Brasil, Bacellar’s advisors and the state government, but received no responses.