The impression is that Eduardo Paes remembers from time to time that he will be a candidate for governor of Rio de Janeiro in 2026. In fact, he works in the shadows, as he pleases.
Burned by the 2018 defeat, he is seeking to forge alliances within the state, where his rejection is greater than in the capital, and, above all, to negotiate the evangelical vote, no easy task for someone with an overt carnival character. In 2022, Bolsonaro, with the exception of Rio, holds a majority among the most important city halls in Rio de Janeiro.
At the beginning of the week, Paes criticized Claudio Castro’s performance in the field of public security. But without mentioning the operation that took place in and between the Alemão compounds, the most deadly operation in the country’s history, which placed the fight against crime at the heart of next year’s election campaigns:
“If security worsens, the governor of Rio and other states in the country is responsible,” Paes said in a letter to right-wing governors. “It is clear that the federal government and municipalities can help, but the push and pull must be overcome.”
The statement reiterates the mayoral election campaign period. On this occasion, Eduardo Paes confronted Alexandre Ramajim – the former Director General of Abyan who was sentenced to 16 years in prison by the Special Forces in the coup plot case and is now on the run in the United States. The hard-line bet at the time was Ramajim, appointed by Bolsonaro, a former federal police delegate in whose candidacy the Liberal Party had invested more than R$21 million.
Very weak in the vote, Ramajim disappointed, not even making it to the second round. All the blame for the humiliating defeat fell on the administration of Claudio Castro, during which the criminal organizations grew and strengthened.
The difference regarding 2022 is that Paes still doesn’t know who he will compete with. A rival taken for granted, Rodrigo Basilar, has just been arrested for leaking classified information from a police operation against the Comando Vermelho. The Bolsonaro family is experiencing a crisis, and does not care much about the situation in which the Bolsonaro movement was born.
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