Lula urges Rio governor to prosecute 'thieves and militias' from previous administrations

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva stood at the inauguration of a new health technology center in Rio de Janeiro on Saturday and made an unusual demand of the state's interim governor: forget about building highways or beaches. Arrest the thieves and militia members who ran this place.

The interim governor, federal judge Ricardo Couto, had assumed office just weeks earlier after Cláudio Castro, the previous governor from the center-right Liberal Party, resigned. Couto's appointment came after the Supreme Court blocked an attempt by Castro's political allies in the state legislature to hold an indirect election to choose a successor—a maneuver that would almost certainly have installed another politician from the same faction. Lula endorsed the court's decision and saw in Couto an unexpected opportunity.

"Nobody is waiting for you to build a viaduct or a bridge or an artificial beach," Lula said in his remarks. "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 president's language was blunt, almost confrontational, as if he were laying down a challenge to a man he had never met before the legislative process began.

Couto had one advantage that made him, in Lula's view, uniquely positioned for the task: he had not needed to campaign for the job. He owed no political debts. He had not made promises to the militia-connected networks that had long dominated Rio's power structure. "Take these six months you have," Lula urged him. "Do what many people failed to do in ten years in this state." The implicit message was clear—this was a window, and it would not stay open forever.

The backdrop to this public pressure was a federal police operation launched the previous week targeting Castro himself. Investigators were examining whether the former governor had used his office to protect and benefit the Refit Group, a large conglomerate controlled by businessman Ricardo Magro, and whether Castro had even drafted legislation specifically tailored to serve the company's interests. The allegations painted a picture of state power converted into private advantage, the kind of corruption that had become almost routine in Rio's recent history.

Couto had already begun moving. He had launched audits across state agencies and had started removing officials who were close to Castro. These were not symbolic gestures. They were the early moves of someone taking the job seriously, or at least appearing to.

Lula also used the occasion to address Brazil's international relationships, saying he had no preference for any particular country and that he had made this clear to President Donald Trump during a recent meeting at the White House. Brazil, he said, wanted to work with nations willing to collaborate and share technology. It was a statement aimed at reassuring both domestic and international audiences that Brazil's foreign policy would remain pragmatic and open, regardless of which way the political winds were blowing elsewhere in the world.

But the core message of the day belonged to Rio. A state that had become synonymous with police violence, gang warfare, and political capture needed to be fixed. Lula was saying it could not remain a place where only crime made the news. And he was saying it directly to the one man who, for the next six months, had the power to try.