Work to arrest all the thieves who governed this state
Em um momento em que o Rio de Janeiro carrega o peso de décadas de captura institucional pelo crime organizado, o presidente Lula escolheu um palanque simbólico — a inauguração de um centro de saúde — para lançar uma cobrança que vai além da política ordinária. Dirigindo-se ao governador interino Ricardo Couto, homem que chegou ao cargo pelo acaso institucional e não pelo voto, Lula transformou a transitoriedade do mandato em argumento moral: quem não deve satisfações ao eleitorado deve-as, ao menos, à história. A mensagem era simples e grave — prender os que saquearam o estado ou abrir caminho para que a União o faça.
- Lula rompeu o protocolo de uma inauguração para exigir, publicamente, que o governador interino prenda políticos corruptos e milicianos — não construa pontes ou praias artificiais.
- Ricardo Couto governa sem mandato popular, herdando uma crise aberta pela renúncia de Cláudio Castro e por uma tentativa frustrada de sucessão indireta que os tribunais bloquearam.
- O presidente deixou implícito que seis meses é o prazo — e também o limite — antes que as eleições de outubro devolvam o estado a disputas que podem recolocar as mesmas redes no poder.
- A pressão federal sinaliza impaciência crescente com a impunidade estrutural no Rio e levanta o espectro de intervenção direta caso o estado não avance na responsabilização criminal.
No sábado, durante a abertura de um centro de tecnologia em saúde no Rio de Janeiro, o presidente Lula desviou o discurso das obras para uma cobrança política de tom incomum: o governador interino Ricardo Couto deveria concentrar seus esforços em prender os "ladrões e milicianos" que governaram o estado por anos, não em inaugurar projetos de infraestrutura.
Couto assumiu o governo em março, após a renúncia de Cláudio Castro, sem ter disputado uma eleição. Uma tentativa da base de Castro de garantir a sucessão por via indireta foi barrada pela Justiça, e Couto — um juiz — chegou ao cargo por um acidente institucional. Com eleições marcadas para outubro, seu mandato tem prazo certo.
Lula usou exatamente essa precariedade como argumento. Sem dever favores a eleitores, Couto teria liberdade — e obrigação — de fazer o que administrações anteriores não fizeram em uma década: responsabilizar criminalmente quem capturou as estruturas políticas do estado. "Ninguém está esperando que você construa algo", disse o presidente. "O que as pessoas esperam é que você trabalhe para prender todos os ladrões que governaram este estado."
O tom era de advertência. Lula reconheceu a profundidade com que o crime organizado penetrou a política fluminense e deixou no ar o que não disse diretamente: se o estado não agir no tempo que tem, a União pode precisar agir por ele.
President Lula stood before a crowd gathered for the opening of a new health technology center in Rio de Janeiro on Saturday and made his priorities unmistakably clear: the interim governor should forget about building bridges or artificial beaches. What Rio needed, Lula said, was arrests.
The target of this pressure was Ricardo Couto, a judge who became governor without winning an election. Couto had assumed the role in March after Cláudio Castro, the previous governor, resigned. Castro's departure had triggered a political crisis that nearly resulted in the state legislature choosing Castro's successor through an indirect vote—a maneuver the courts ultimately blocked. Now Couto held the office temporarily, with elections scheduled for October.
Lula's message was direct and repeated: Couto should work to imprison the "thieves and militiamen" who had run Rio for years. The president framed this not as one task among many, but as the defining work of the interim administration. "Nobody is waiting for you to build something," Lula said. "You know what people expect from you? Work to arrest all the thieves who governed this state and the deputies who are part of an organized militia."
The language was blunt because, in Lula's view, the stakes were existential. Rio, he noted, was the most famous city in the world. It could not be allowed to remain under the control of organized crime. The president acknowledged the peculiarity of Couto's position—a man who had never sought the office, who had never campaigned, who had arrived through institutional accident rather than democratic choice. But that accident, Lula suggested, was also an opportunity. Couto had six months before the election, six months to do what others had failed to accomplish in a decade.
Lula's remarks carried an implicit warning about what might happen if the state did not act. He referenced the attempted maneuver by Castro's faction to engineer an indirect succession, a scheme that would have simply replaced one problematic governor with another from the same network. The fact that the courts had stopped it was not, in Lula's telling, a reason to relax. It was a reminder of how deeply organized crime had penetrated Rio's political structures.
The president's intervention signaled federal impatience with Rio's governance crisis. Lula was not offering suggestions or encouragement. He was applying pressure, publicly and pointedly, on an interim governor who had no electoral mandate and limited time. The message was clear: use the window you have been given. Make arrests. Hold people accountable. Do not let the state slip back into the hands of the same networks that had controlled it before. The alternative—what Lula left unsaid but implied—was that federal intervention might become necessary.
Citações Notáveis
Work to arrest all the thieves who governed this state and the deputies who are part of an organized militia— President Lula, speaking at the opening of a health technology center in Rio de Janeiro
It is not possible for a powerful and beautiful state to be governed by militiamen. The people of Rio do not deserve that— President Lula
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
Why did Lula choose this moment, at a health technology center opening, to make such a forceful demand about arrests?
Because the moment was already political. He was in Rio, in front of an audience, speaking to a state in crisis. The health center was the occasion, but the real message was for Couto and the legislature—and for anyone watching to see if the interim governor would actually act.
Couto has no electoral mandate. Does that weaken him or strengthen him in this situation?
It cuts both ways. He has no voters to answer to, which means he could theoretically be bolder. But he also has no political base, no constituency that elected him. Lula is essentially saying: use that freedom. You don't owe anyone anything except the people of Rio.
What does "organized militia" mean in the Rio context? Is this a specific group?
It's not one group. It's a network of armed factions that have infiltrated local government, police, and business. They control territory, extort money, and have placed their people in elected office. That's what Lula is referring to when he talks about deputies who are part of organized militias.
If Couto actually tried to arrest these people, what would happen?
That's the real question. He would face enormous resistance—from within the state apparatus, from people with resources and armed followers. Lula's pressure might give him political cover, but it doesn't solve the practical problem of actually making arrests stick.
Is Lula threatening federal intervention?
Not explicitly. But the subtext is there. He's saying: this is your job, your window, your chance. The implication is that if the state doesn't act, the federal government might have to.