The people of Rio do not deserve to live under militia rule
No coração de um estado famoso pelo mundo inteiro, o presidente Lula ergueu a voz não para inaugurar, mas para cobrar: enquanto o Rio de Janeiro exporta beleza e cultura para o planeta, exporta também a imagem de territórios dominados por milícias e facções criminosas. Em cerimônia na Fiocruz, Lula dirigiu-se ao governador Cláudio Castro com a clareza de quem carrega a paciência esgotada — não são pontes nem praias artificiais que o povo carioca espera, mas a função mais elementar do Estado: a segurança. A pressão federal chega acompanhada de promessa de apoio e de uma PEC aguardando o Senado, sinalizando que o momento de agir é agora, antes que o problema se torne irreversível.
- Lula interrompeu o tom celebratório de uma inauguração para lançar uma cobrança pública e direta ao governador do Rio, expondo a tensão entre o governo federal e a liderança estadual diante do avanço das milícias.
- O Rio de Janeiro, cidade mais reconhecida do mundo, tornou-se sinônimo internacional de controle territorial pelo crime organizado — uma contradição que o presidente chamou de traição aos próprios moradores do estado.
- O governo federal promete suporte, mas o avanço depende da aprovação da PEC 18/25 no Senado, que criaria um novo Ministério da Segurança Pública e ampliaria a atuação da União no combate às facções.
- O estado opera sob liderança interina após decisão do STF que manteve o presidente do tribunal de justiça fluminense como governador provisório, enquanto a corte delibera sobre a realização de eleições para o cargo.
- Lula fixou um horizonte informal de seis a dez meses para que a gestão provisória demonstre resultados concretos — uma janela estreita para reverter décadas de omissão e cumplicidade com o crime organizado.
Na tarde de um sábado, durante a inauguração de uma unidade da Fiocruz, o presidente Lula desviou o olhar das fitas e dos aplausos para mirar diretamente o governador Cláudio Castro. A mensagem foi sem rodeios: o povo do Rio não estava esperando por novas estradas ou praias artificiais. Estava esperando que seu governador prendesse os criminosos e os milicianos que, na prática, administravam partes do estado.
Lula apontou a contradição com precisão cirúrgica: o Rio de Janeiro é uma das cidades mais famosas do planeta, reconhecida em todos os continentes — e, no entanto, o que o mundo discute sobre ela é o domínio de facções sobre bairros inteiros. Para o presidente, isso não era apenas uma falha política. Era uma traição aos moradores que vivem sob esse peso cotidiano.
A pressão veio acompanhada de uma promessa. O governo federal está disposto a ajudar, mas aguarda que o Senado aprove a PEC 18/25, emenda constitucional que criaria um novo Ministério da Segurança Pública e expandiria a capacidade federal de combater o crime organizado além das fronteiras estaduais. Era um recado claro: o apoio está a caminho, mas a janela para agir é agora.
O contexto político tornava o momento ainda mais carregado. Desde abril, o estado está sob liderança interina — o presidente do tribunal de justiça fluminense, Ricardo Couto, ocupa o cargo de governador provisório enquanto o STF decide se haverá eleições para preencher a vaga. Foi a essa liderança provisória que Lula lançou o desafio: nos próximos seis a dez meses, fazer o que outros não fizeram em uma década. O que ficou suspenso no ar foi a clareza de que o Rio deixou de ser apenas um problema estadual — tornou-se uma questão nacional, e o governo federal não pretende mais olhar de longe.
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva stood at the inauguration of a new Fiocruz facility on Saturday and turned his attention to Rio de Janeiro's governor with a blunt message: stop talking about infrastructure projects and start arresting criminals. The president's words carried the weight of federal frustration—a sitting chief executive calling out a state leader for failing at the most basic function of governance.
Lula did not mince language. He told Governor Cláudio Castro that no one was waiting for new highways or bridges or artificial beaches. What the people of Rio actually wanted, the president said, was for their governor to work toward imprisoning the thieves and organized militia members who had effectively run the state. He pointed to the absurdity of the situation with the precision of someone who had been thinking about it: Rio de Janeiro is the most famous city in the world, known across continents, yet the international conversation about it centers on criminal factions controlling territory and organized crime holding dominion over neighborhoods.
The contradiction stung because it was true. A state with global recognition, with natural beauty and economic potential, had become synonymous in news reports with the very criminal networks it should have been dismantling. Lula framed this not as a political failure but as a betrayal of the people who lived there. The residents of Rio, he said, did not deserve to live under militia rule. They deserved a state that functioned.
The president's pressure came with a carrot alongside the stick. The federal government, he promised, stood ready to help. But that help depended on Congress moving forward with the Public Security Constitutional Amendment—known as PEC 18/25—which awaited Senate approval. The amendment would create a new Ministry of Public Security and substantially expand the federal government's authority to combat criminal factions operating across state lines. In other words, Lula was signaling that Rio's governor had a window of opportunity: act now, with federal backing coming, or watch the problem metastasize.
The timing of Lula's remarks was not accidental. In April, Supreme Court Justice Cristiano Zanin had ruled that Ricardo Couto, the president of Rio's state court system, would remain as interim governor while the Supreme Court deliberated over whether to hold elections for a temporary mandate to fill the gubernatorial seat. This meant the state was operating under provisional leadership—leadership that Lula was now publicly challenging to prove itself. He gave Couto a deadline, though not a formal one: use the next six to ten months to accomplish what others had failed to do in a decade. Fix the state. Help repair it.
What hung beneath Lula's words was a recognition that Rio's crisis was not merely a state problem anymore. Organized crime and militia control had metastasized into a national embarrassment and a federal concern. The president was not asking politely. He was demanding action, offering resources, and making clear that the eyes of the federal government were now fixed on how Rio's interim leadership would respond.
Citas Notables
No one is waiting for you to build a highway or a bridge. What people expect is for you to work to arrest all the thieves and militia members who have governed this state.— President Lula da Silva, to Rio's governor
The people of Rio de Janeiro do not deserve to be governed by militia members.— President Lula da Silva
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
Why did Lula choose this moment, at a Fiocruz event, to publicly pressure the governor?
Because it was a moment of visibility and legitimacy. He was inaugurating a health facility—a symbol of state capacity—while the state itself was failing at basic security. The contrast made the point unavoidable.
What does he mean by saying the governor has six to ten months?
That's the window before the Supreme Court decides whether to hold elections for a permanent governor. Lula is saying: prove yourself now, or face judgment when the real election comes.
Is the federal government actually equipped to help, or is this mostly rhetoric?
The PEC—the constitutional amendment—is real legislation pending in the Senate. If it passes, the federal government gains actual tools: a new ministry, expanded jurisdiction, more resources. But it's not a done deal. Lula is using pressure on the governor to build momentum for the amendment.
What does it mean that a militia-controlled state is "the most famous city in the world"?
It's a wound. Rio's reputation is global—Christ the Redeemer, Carnival, the beaches. But the world also sees the violence. Lula is saying that contradiction is intolerable. A state with that much soft power should not be governed by criminals.
Does the interim governor have the actual power to deliver what Lula is asking?
That's the real question. He's a judge, not an elected executive. He has legitimacy but limited mandate. Lula is essentially asking him to exceed his own authority—to do what a full governor might not even be able to do.