In Rio de Janeiro’s gubernatorial race, allegations of organized crime links have become the central line of attack, surpassing corruption as the dominant theme, according to Folha de S.Paulo.
Eduardo Paes, the former mayor and PSD candidate, accuses PL‑aligned legislator Douglas Ruas of ties to the Comando Vermelho faction through his former ally Rodrigo Bacellar, who is jailed on charges of leaking information about an operation against the gang.
Ruas counters by questioning how Paes and President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva managed to campaign in favelas controlled by criminal groups, echoing a tactic used by former president Jair Bolsonaro in 2022.
Electoral‑court challenge
The accusations reached the state electoral court (TRE), where PL deputy Carlos Jordy, allied with Ruas, sought to invalidate Paes’ candidacy over alleged crime ties.
Paes’ defence called Jordy’s move “temerária, vergonhosa e lamentável” and requested sanctions for bad‑faith litigation, Folha reported.
Roots in Operation Unha e Carne
The crime‑link narrative stems from Operation Unha e Carne, a police probe that has jailed Bacellar, former state deputy Thiago Rangel (Avante) and federal judge Macário Júdice, and led to a search‑and‑seizure against former deputy Márcio Canella (União).
Shift from corruption to crime
Beyond the Rio race, the focus on organized crime has influenced electoral jurisprudence: the Supreme Electoral Court (TSE) broadened grounds to reject candidates accused of armed group participation, a shift traced to Rio cases.
Even corruption scandals that previously dominated Rio elections—such as those involving former governor Sérgio Cabral and successive investigations against governors from 2016 onward—have been eclipsed by crime‑link accusations, Folha noted.
Former governor Cláudio Castro (PL), who withdrew a Senate bid after police operations linked him to the Master bank scandal, has also been drawn into the debate, with Paes claiming Castro’s political group associated with organized crime.
Castro’s ally Ruas distances himself from Castro, stating he “does not choose a boss, but a mission,” while Garotinho, polling third, warns voters not to limit themselves to candidates tied either to the Comando Vermelho or to milícias, referencing the Paes‑Lucinha and Ruas‑Bacellar alliances.