Governor says he intends to work to make his name viable in the dispute for Palácio do Planalto
Folhapress – March 26, 2024
JULIA CHAIB
Cited as a pre-candidate for the Presidency of the Republic by members of União Brasil, the governor of Goiás, Ronaldo Caiado (União Brasil), tells the report that he intends to work to make his name viable in the dispute for Palácio do Planalto in 2026.
To achieve this, he admits that it is important to count on the support of former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL), who has been ineligible for eight years and with whom he became close again after being away during the pandemic.
“If he really has the conditions to be a candidate, the leadership he exerts in order to be a candidate is indisputable. Well, other than him, my life path is exactly in the same electorate as President Bolsonaro,” he says.
The governor assesses that Lula (PT) instigates the intensification of society. Caiado also defends amnesty for those involved in the January 8 attacks as a way of pacifying the country.
QUESTION – The name of Mr. He is cited by supporters and the opposition as a potential candidate for the Planalto. Mr. Do you already consider yourself a pre-candidate?
RONALDO CAIADO – This will be handled by the party. Now, I see myself as a person who can present myself to União Brasil. I see a life trajectory that accredits me so that I can see if there is a partisan possibility of turning this into a reality or not. It is still a very long journey, for an issue that will be addressed in 2026.
Q – Is running for President a dream?
RC – The desire has always existed, I never denied it. Even because I was the youngest candidate in the country’s history, at 39 years old, in 1989, it’s no surprise. I put myself forward as a candidate at a time when no one had the courage to defend the rural sector, free enterprise, property rights.
Q – Given the current political configuration, Mr. Is it to inherit the political estate of Bolsonaro, who is ineligible?
RC – First [é preciso] evaluate whether this decision will really be final. If he is capable of being a candidate, the leadership he exerts in order to be a candidate is indisputable. Well, other than him, my life path is exactly in the same electorate as President Bolsonaro.
There is no other electorate that is not consistent with my political life during these 40 years. We all recognize this and there is no doubt that, even without a mandate, in this process of impeding a candidacy, he has the capacity to mobilize millions and millions of people wherever he goes.
The conservative electorate today reaches close to 70% of the Brazilian population. We recognize that former president Bolsonaro managed, like no other, to bring out this feeling. I was a candidate in 89 and at that time there was much more prejudice towards the rural sector and the theses we defended than support from a larger part of the population. Today you see the opposite, today you see that the right is much more consistent, with increasingly better projects and being able to demonstrate this in practical life.
Q – Mr. He was an ally of Bolsonaro, but stepped aside during the pandemic because he differed from the conduct of the fight against Covid-19. Then it gets closer. This generated comments, such as that from pastor Silas Malafaia, that Mr. he would be pretending to be close to Bolsonaro with an eye on the position he will leave. How do you evaluate this reading?
RC – I prefer not to comment on this statement. I don’t think I should make any analysis of a matter that, really… I don’t need a certificate from anyone today. I’ve always been very consistent. I think these issues do not deserve to be discussed, much less to be relegated to this position in an interview.
Q – Mr. Do you reject this idea that Malafaia insinuated that he was being opportunistic?
RC – Yes. First of all, I already told you that this matter will not be answered by me. Regarding my friendship with President Bolsonaro, I have always had a lot of independence in relation to everything I do. I have always been an ally, but I have never been subjugated. Is different. Ally doesn’t mean you have to agree on everything. My position is one of scientific knowledge. I’m a doctor, a surgeon.
But sorry, this type of divergence cannot be a reason for tomorrow to say: ‘Look, from now on we won’t talk about the whole thing’. I never put myself forward as a pre-candidate having to be a lamb for A or B. This detail of ti-ti-ti here, ti-ti-ti there, is something of less relevance. The person is worried about this or about raising their child, providing a quality education, having the security to get to work.
Q – How did you, Mr. Do you see the right in Brazil, remembering that today the customs agenda seems to be relevant?
RC – Firstly, I think we need to see what the population feels at the moment. Surveys show that 59.2% of the population is concerned about violence and the spread of drug trafficking in the country. This is the most relevant topic we have today. Secondly, what is education? How do you consider today a country where the average for first place in Ideb in Brazil reaches a score of 4.83 out of a maximum of 10? These are the challenges we need to face.
Now, we cannot admit, under any circumstances, that you come… it could be a very good literature book, everyone buys their own, everyone reads what they want. But using this in school has nothing to do with it.
Q – Are you talking about Mr. to collect the book O Avesso da Pele from schools?
RC – Exactly. You don’t see anything like this in any other country in the world. These are distortions that build nothing and produce no results.
Q – Mr. was accused of censoring the book.
RC – It’s not a question of censorship. Read whoever wants. It is a literary work. Now, we cannot confuse the signs. One thing is a literary work, another thing is didactic content. They are different things.
Q – Is it possible to have a strong candidate from the camp opposite Lula without Bolsonaro’s support?
RC – In the current scenario, of course not. Of course his position [Bolsonaro]Today, it is extremely important for the candidate to have the prospect of winning an election. It’s obvious, it’s clear. How can a person who is a former president, who is not expected to be a candidate now, by the decision [do TSE]can you place 750 thousand people in Paulista?
Q – If he is convicted, will his electoral strength remain the same?
RC – Well, that’s beyond my ability to learn politics, much less predict what will happen. I would not know. What must be done is to respect the normal process of judging people and not anticipate situations, reverberate the possibility of being arrested, of being convicted. This is very bad. This sounds like other moments in the history of the world. Inquisitive judgment never worked.
Q – Mr. Would you maintain support for him if he is convicted?
RC – It is not possible to make a judgment without the right to defense and also without consolidating the evidence.
Q – Do you see a parallel between this situation and what President Lula went through in court? He was convicted and later had the sentences annulled. Do you think there was a hasty judgment there, or are they different situations?
RC – I think that’s what you and we all have already learned, right? When it comes to the Supreme Court, you can often agree or not, but you respect it.
Q – How did you, Mr. evaluate the position of minister Alexandre de Moraes, who has been criticized on the right for his decisions? Mr. Do you defend amnesty for the 8/1 sentences to which Bolsonaro supporters were sentenced, as the former president defended on Avenida Paulista?
RC – I always like to build a pacification process. The funniest thing is that I remember, when I was a deputy, it was the left that called for the amnesty for firefighters in Rio de Janeiro. Circumstances change. If you look for history, you see that Juscelino Kubitschek did indeed suffer a threat of a real coup, where the Air Force reacted to his inauguration, took Jacareacanga (PA), took Aragarças (GO). When it was over, that was hushed up, and soon afterwards he also proposed an amnesty. He said: “let me work, let me build Brasília, let me make Brazil develop”. I’m not going to get attached to these minor things, I need to provide solutions for Brazilians.
Q – Would that be your position?
RC – Juscelino Kubitschek set a very good example for us. So, judging a thesis that was intended is actually a little complicated for us to be able to make this value judgment as we want to do.
Q – You are saying, in other words, that the ideal would be to grant amnesty.
RC – I think so, because after all, these are times when we need to try to cool down the climate in our country in order to have governability. We cannot govern with these tools that we are living with. It’s been a year and three months.
Q – But do you see crime on the part of those protesters on January 8th?
RC – As happened when I was a Federal Deputy [em 2013] and they invaded the Chamber, destroyed the plenary, destroyed ministries, destroyed the Itamaraty, all of that. I do not tolerate aggression against property rights or public powers.
Q – So you think there was no coup attempt?
RC – I’m not a big fan of the guesswork thesis, I’m a surgeon, so I’m very diagnostic. The guessworker is usually someone who doesn’t have much content.
Q – We have now seen another episode of internal fights in União Brasil that led to the removal of President Luciano Bivar from his party. The Union is capable of being a unified party for Mr. contest the election?
RC – I can attest to this, it is not a given that União Brasil will be one of the most representative and important parties in the country’s political process in the coming months. Today the party returns to its normal bed, the party bed, of political discussions with people who really have the intellectual preparation to discuss each of the issues as the third largest party in the country.
Q – Your party has three ministers in the government. Is it possible to keep these people in the Lula government and at the same time have an opposition presidential candidate?
RC – This is a matter that will be discussed by the directory. It will be discussed and discussed. Each person will put themselves in a position, there is the result of 85 votes and this result must be respected.
Q – Will you defend their maintenance?
RC – The agenda will be posted at the right time. You can be sure that there you will see my vote and my consistency in discussing the matter, okay?
Q – If Bolsonaro asks Mr. go to PL, sir. go?
RC – He never said that to me.
Q – There was disappointment in the Lula government with his participation in the Avenida Paulista event alongside Bolsonaro. How is this relationship?
RC – I don’t confuse signs, ever. I don’t mix electoral campaigning with state administration.
X-RAY
Ronaldo Caiado, 74
Current governor of Goiás, he was re-elected in the first round of the 2022 elections with 51.81% of the votes. He was a federal deputy between 1991 and 2014 and a senator between 2015 and 2018, when he took a leave of absence from his position to take over the government of Goiás. Born in Anápolis (GO), he is a doctor and livestock farmer.
