Presidential candidate Flavio Bolsonaro (PL) met on Sunday (30th) with El Salvador's Minister of Justice and Public Security, Gustavo Villatoro, to discuss ideas for combating organized crime. During the encounter, Bolsonaro said he intends to draw inspiration from the Salvadoran model, mainly in expanding prisons and hardening Brazilian criminal legislation.
The candidate argued that Brazil should imprison more people than it currently does. According to data from the National Secretariat for Prison Policies (Senappen), Brazil's prison population was 964,074 inmates at the end of 2025, a number 6% higher than in 2024.
Bolsonaro criticized Brazilian legislation, stating that "there are few people in prison in Brazil" and that there should be more imprisonments. He blamed what he called "lenient legislation" for the current situation and announced plans to create an additional half a million prison spots in the country.
Among the proposals presented, the PL candidate argued that cell phone thieves should serve a minimum sentence of eight years in prison, arguing that offenders should remain detained and not just be temporarily arrested.
