Brazilian candidate Bolsonaro praises Bukele’s security model

Brazilian presidential candidate Flavio Bolsonaro on Sunday praised El Salvador’s hard-line model for fighting crime after meeting with the Central American country’s security minister, Gustavo Villatoro.

Less than two months before October’s general election in which he will face President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the eldest son of former president Jair Bolsonaro (2018-2022) is focusing on crime and security, voters’ top concerns.

The meeting with Villatoro “greatly inspires us to implement a highly effective and firm plan to defend citizens and victims, rather than criminals, as the current government does,” Flavio Bolsonaro told reporters after the meeting in Sao Paulo.

El Salvador President Nayib Bukele enjoys high approval ratings in his country after reducing the homicide rate to historic lows amid a harsh clampdown on gangs and crime.

Several right-wing governments in Latin America are seeking to emulate him.

Bukele has achieved “one of the greatest and most effective restorations of sovereignty and public security,” Bolsonaro said.

Villatoro is in Sao Paulo to take part Monday in a security forum organized by an industry group.

Bukele has governed since 2019, and his administration has faced criticism from human rights groups because it relies on a state of emergency under which nearly 100,000 people accused of being gang members or accomplices have been detained without warrants.

“There are too few prisoners in Brazil. There needs to be more. There aren’t more only because the laws are lax. That is why we are going to create more than half a million additional prison places,” said Bolsonaro.

The first round will take place on Oct. 4. Polls show the leftist Lula with a slight lead over Bolsonaro. (AFP)