00:00Over the next few weeks, our correspondent Brian Meir will look at issues that voters are concerned about in Brazil's
00:06upcoming presidential elections.
00:08In this report, he looks at how different candidates look at the issue of crime.
00:16Three months off, a recent poll shows that the most important issue for voters is public security.
00:22According to BTGNexus, 29% of Brazilian voters polled rank it as their number one issue.
00:28This has candidates scrambling to explain what their priorities will be for fighting crime for the next four years.
00:34The federal government is spending 17 billion Reyes on public security this year.
00:39Our initial goal is to double that value, but definitely, if there is a need, we will increase it even
00:46further.
00:48Financial support is important so that state police and municipal guards can have drone squadrons, technical equipment and more weapons.
00:56For decades, there have been primarily two schools of thought on how to fight crime in Brazil.
01:01Right-wing politicians emphasize a hard-line approach, staging headline-grabbing police incursions into poor neighborhoods
01:08with guns drawn in actions that result in deaths of low-level drug dealers and innocent civilians alike.
01:14Progressive politicians support more funding for intelligence and prevention and targeted actions that prioritize arresting organized crime leaders over vigilante
01:24-style executions of low-level street dealers.
01:28Normally, the people who end up in jail have been the least important people in the criminal organizations.
01:36The police normally don't reach the top floor of the organized crime groups.
01:41This operation was a success because we were able to arrest people at the top of the system.
01:46The Flávio Bolsonaro campaign has announced a ten-point crime-fighting plan, which is primarily based on programs implemented by
01:54family ally, Governor Tarcísio de Freitas, who controls the Sao Paulo Military Police.
01:59Under Freitas' leadership, police killings increased by 61% in 2024, with most victims being Afro-Brazilian youth, and rape
02:08cases increased by 43% in 2025, with most victims under the age of 14.
02:15There has been overspending in repressive actions by the Sao Paulo police to the determent of prevention.
02:21The current government weakened the primary control mechanisms over police actions.
02:27It is clear that this is a war against poor neighborhoods, which is frequently driven by the logic of revenge,
02:34with an unchecked use of force in a selective manner, which disrespects human life and democratic norms.
02:42Brazil's presidential elections will take place on October 4th.
02:46Brian Muir, Telesur Recife.
02:49We
02:49Okay.
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