Reuters to Brazil’s 2022 election, the Bolsonaro campaign center and a network of vigilante groups are shaping a political scene that echoes a dangerous triangle of power. The retired captain and his Liberal Party ally garner substantial backing from business leaders and arms importers, shop owners who supply firearms to police and shooting clubs active during the October vote. A group claiming to defend fundamental rights for legitimate defense channels money to Bolsonarists who position themselves as guardians of a continuity authorities fear could be broken.
Like a scene from a Wild West film, Bolsonaro imitates a combative stance with his hands, a symbol of identity for his far-right base. The gesture, made at campaign events, relies on a pointed index finger and a thumb that mimics a trigger. If poll data holds, this Sunday could mark an era ending with Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva securing a first round victory. yet the veteran candidate has moved beyond mere theater, signing forty decrees in support of a slogan declaring that an armed people cannot be enslaved.
scary figures
The gun rhetoric has translated into policy questions that rarely appear in the electoral debate. Official permits to carry weapons under the banners of hunters, sport shooters, and gatherers rose from 350,683 to 1,006,725 in 2018, a figure that dwarfs the 406,384 police officers patrolling Brazil. These numbers can be misleading and fail to capture the full scale of the issue. Folha de S.Paulo reported that the military admitted it could not produce detailed reports on weapons acquired under these categories from Sao Paulo.
Brazilian safety researchers estimate that roughly 4.4 million firearms circulate in private hands, with about one third of them having expired permits. Bruno Langeani, president of the Soy de Paz Institute and author of Firearms in Brazil: Inducing Violence, warned that about 700,000 people may be armed with little to no scrutiny on the eve of the election. Langeani also noted a surge in purchases in recent months. Piauí magazine reported that about 1,300 guns are registered each day, with some 40,000 imported in July alone. Legal frameworks allowed members of criminal groups in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro to arm themselves and pay for rifles or pistols in easy installments despite extensive criminal records.
Militia and Bolsonarism
The same political logic that supports formal security has aided the growth of illegal armed groups in Rio de Janeiro composed of former military police and firefighters. These militias emerged with the protective stigma of a powerful underground economy and have become informal providers of transportation, cable services, gas sales, and bottled water. They even charge for medical examinations in public hospitals.
That parallel state has affected 1.7 million people living in what many locals call a vulnerable urban zone. Areas under militia control expanded by 387 percent over 16 years, increasing from 52.6 square kilometers to 256.3 square kilometers. These militias are strongest in Rio’s western districts and compete with major drug-trafficking factions such as Comando Vermelho, Tercer Comando Puro, and Amigos de los Amigos. Yet collaboration is not unheard of, and militia members often display rifles and shrapnel while openly supporting Bolsonaro. They seek not only to back his candidacy but also to gain seats in city councils and even the National Congress.
old relationships
Throughout the campaign Lula has described his opponent as a militia figure more than once. The Bolsonaro family and their ties to these groups have been widely discussed since 2019. Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, for example, maintained close links to Adriano Magalhães da Nobrega, known as Captain Adriano, who died amid a clash with security forces in 2020. The governor of Rio, Claudius Castro, an ally of the president, is seen as likely to win reelection, and the right to bear arms remains a core belief for many voters. A few days ago, the daughter of Luiz Fernando da Costa drew support from dentist and municipal legislator Fernanda Costa, nicknamed Fernandinho Beira-Mar, a convicted drug lord sometimes cited as the Brazilian counterpart to Pablo Escobar. The cycle of violence appears tight and unbroken in these districts.