Renan Santos proposes delinking spending, developing atomic bomb - Valor International

Mission Party presidential candidate Renan Santos said that, if elected, he intends to delink the minimum spending requirements for health and education, as well as implement spending cuts, as a way to prevent public debt in Brazil from growing at an accelerating pace. According to him, the fiscal measures outlined in his government plan will, “at a minimum,” make the debt trajectory “stable.” Addressing his proposals on fighting crime and national sovereignty, the politician proposed that Brazil develop an atomic bomb and advocated a “state of emergency” in favelas to combat crime in those areas.

The statements were made during an interview with TV Globo on Wednesday (26), following Jornal Nacional, the network’s primetime news broadcast. Santos is the third candidate interviewed in the series organized by the network. On Tuesday (25), the guest was Ronaldo Caiado (Social Democratic Party, PSD), and on Monday (24), it was the turn of Romeu Zema (Novo).

“The measures we are going to adopt will, at a minimum, leave it [the debt trajectory] stable through spending cuts and an increase in GDP,” he said. “Today, it is accelerating rapidly, and we need to slow the rate at which it is accelerating. We will de-index, [and] delink the education and health spending floors,” the businessman explained.

According to the candidate, his plan is to create fiscal space to expand infrastructure investment. Mission’s government program estimates that the proposed fiscal reforms could generate savings of R$1.1 trillion through 2031.

“The beauty of spending cuts is that they will be tied to the infrastructure sector, which is what Brazil needs,” he said. He said the reforms outlined in his program would allow interest rates to fall and, as a result, boost investment, employment and the country’s competitiveness. He also said he intends to carry out another pension reform in Brazil.

The politician sought to take ownership of the debate over national sovereignty, the main theme of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s (Workers’ Party, PT) reelection campaign. Santos argued that Brazil should begin studies and establish a nuclear program aimed at the possible production of atomic weapons as a way to strengthen the country’s defense. The Constitution provides that nuclear activity on national territory may only be conducted for peaceful purposes and with congressional approval.

He said that, over the medium and long term, the country should consider producing an atomic bomb and even floated the possibility of withdrawing from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), following the example of North Korea, which he described as a “respected” nation.

“The most powerful nations in the world have nuclear weapons, and they earn respect because of that,” he said. According to the candidate, if Brazil wants to rank among the world’s five greatest nations, it will need to expand its territorial and military sovereignty and discuss the possibility of possessing nuclear weapons.

In his view, the country would also need this type of weaponry to seek a permanent seat on the United Nations (UN) Security Council, which currently has five permanent members: China, the U.S., France, the U.K., and Russia. “Brazil will be a victim of this new world that is coming; it must be capable of protecting itself in the coming decades,” he said.

One of the candidate’s main focuses in the presidential race is the public security debate, in an effort to capitalize on weaknesses among the other candidates. With this in mind, Santos said that, if elected, he would declare war on organized crime and implement measures adopted by El Salvador. He advocated changes to the legal framework, including provisions governing the execution of sentences, the Criminal Code and the length of prison terms for violent crimes committed with firearms.

The candidate estimated that R$6 billion would be needed to build 10 prisons, each with capacity for between 30,000 and 40,000 inmates.

During the discussion, the politician again said that he would not comply with a single-justice ruling by the Supreme Court (STF) if he considered it illegal. He reiterated that he intends to consult the Office of the Attorney General (AGU) and the Office of the Prosecutor General (PGR), but said that even so, he could refuse to comply with a ruling if he deemed it outside the bounds of Brazilian law.

In the event of a possible declaration of a Guarantee of Law and Order (GLO) operation in areas occupied by criminal factions, he said he would not comply with a single-justice ruling blocking the measure if it had followed due process of law, arguing that he did not want to “put people’s lives at risk.”

On the same issue, Santos again said he looks to the model adopted by El Salvador President Nayib Bukele as an inspiration and reiterated that he intends to adopt similar measures in the area. According to him, there would be a state of emergency to retake areas controlled by criminal factions.

Asked about reports of human rights violations in El Salvador, he replied, “I think it is a cliché that the international media talks about.” The candidate advocated a policy that would allow police officers to “shoot to kill” criminals and said Brazil “can no longer be held hostage” by crime.

During the interview, Renan criticized and described as “grotesque” a recent decision by Supreme Court (STF) Justice Alexandre de Moraes authorizing the lifting of a journalist’s source confidentiality. In mid-August, the justice authorized a Federal Police operation targeting the source of a journalist under investigation for allegedly monitoring Justice Flávio Dino illegally.

The politician also addressed leaked audio recordings of former state lawmaker Arthur do Val (Mission), known as “Mamãe Falei,” in which he said Ukrainian women were “easy because they are poor” during the country’s war with Russia. Renan described the comments as “bad” and said he “would have liked to have avoided” them.

“They were bad comments; I would have liked to have avoided them. The audio he sent, in his defense, was recorded in a private setting with his friends. The audio leaked, and after it was leaked, he faced the political consequences. The audio really is very bad,” the candidate said.

On policies to combat femicide and women’s participation in the Mission Party, Santos said that his government plan also contains no specific policies targeting homicides or killings committed during robberies. According to him, the idea behind his potential administration is a security policy “focused, above all, on combating organized crime.”

(Camila Zarur contributed reporting from Rio de Janeiro.)

This article was translated from Valor Econômico using an artificial intelligence tool under the supervision of the Valor International editorial team to ensure accuracy, clarity, and adherence to our editorial standards. Read our Editorial Principles.