Flavio Bolsonaro unveils 'Brazil Without Fear' security plan with militarized border and harsher penalties

Senator Flavio Bolsonaro presented a 12‑point security plan called “Brazil without Fear” in São Paulo. The package proposes a National Border System staffed by the army, navy and air force and equipped with high‑tech surveillance to create a physical‑technological “wall” against weapons and drug trafficking.

The plan calls for classifying major criminal groups such as the PCC and Comando Vermelho as terrorist organizations, expanding asset seizures, and doubling federal spending on intelligence, weaponry and technology. It also seeks to lower the age of criminal responsibility to 16, and to 14 for the most serious offenses such as rape and drug trafficking.

In the penitentiary realm, Bolsonaro proposes adopting the El Salvador model for high‑security federal prisons, ending parole and temporary releases for violent offenders, and requiring inmates to work and pay for their stay, with part of the revenue supporting victims’ families. Additional measures include wider use of facial‑recognition monitoring, stricter isolation of gang leaders, and tougher penalties for feminicide.