'Jesus, it's impossible not to believe in you,' says the commander of the massacre, Cláudio Castro.

"What seemed impossible, what seemed hopeless, what seemed like my death, Jesus changed my fate, by a miracle I am here. Jesus, it's impossible not to believe in you."

The man capable of singing that refrain in the Guanabara Palace auditorium, transformed into a Catholic cathedral, on the day of his inauguration as governor, is the same man who commanded the deadliest massacre in the history of Rio de Janeiro. He is the same man who applauded the "success" of the police operation that resulted in 120 deaths in the Alemão and Penha communities on October 28, 2025. A massacre that horrified Brazil and the world.

Between the altar and the trenches, Governor Cláudio Castro transformed praise into a policy of extermination and the word "impossible" into a password for impunity. Between the altar and the political platform, the microphone and the rifle, the governor of Rio de Janeiro embodies the fusion of faith, politics, and blood that defines the Brazilian far-right.

From advisor at the Rio de Janeiro State Legislative Assembly to city councilor and governor - Before becoming governor, Cláudio Bomfim de Castro e Silva was known in charismatic Catholic circles as a praise singer who transformed music into prayer. In videos available on YouTube, he appears with his eyes closed, in contrition, repeating the refrain of the hymn "It is impossible not to believe in You, Jesus," a symbol of surrender and absolute faith.

A law graduate from a middle-class family in Santos, Castro moved to Rio de Janeiro at a young age and began his political career behind the scenes at the Alerj (Rio de Janeiro State Legislative Assembly).

In 2016, he was elected city councilor. Two years later, he was chosen as vice-governor on Wilson Witzel's ticket, with the support of then-President Jair Bolsonaro and the far-right in Rio de Janeiro. With the impeachment of the incumbent, he assumed command of the state in 2021 and consolidated himself as the new face of the far-right in Rio de Janeiro. In 2022, he was re-elected with the explicit support of Bolsonaro's supporters, sectors of the conservative Catholic clergy, and evangelical leaders.

The Governor of God - The image of the “governor of God”—singer, devout, family man—was carefully constructed. In his speeches, Castro united “faith, work, and security.” In practice, he operated according to the same “law and order” playbook as Donald Trump, Jair Bolsonaro, Nayib Bukele, and the Latin American far-right. His motto is the same one known in Bolsonaro's Brazil: the only good criminal is a dead criminal; the police as an instrument of internal warfare; the periphery treated as enemy territory; shooting, beatings, bombs, torture, and death.

Operation Containment: The Massacre The New York Times, The Guardian, Le Monde, and AP News reported on Operation Containment, the nickname for the Alemão and Penha massacre, as a massacre. The UN, Human Rights Watch, and the Supreme Federal Court demanded explanations. Even so, the state government insisted on classifying it as a "tactical success," which Castro applauded as if it were a sensational victory for his favorite team.

Under Castro's political leadership, Rio reached a historic peak in police lethality. The episode transformed the singing governor into a symbol of a state that sings hymns while firing squads. On social media, supporters praised him as the "governor who confronts evil." In the favelas, the population recognizes him as the commander of a massacre.

From drug trafficking to narcoterrorism - According to a report by Malu Gaspar, published in O Globo on Sunday, November 2, 2025, Castro went beyond state borders. He sent an official report to the Trump administration requesting that Comando Vermelho be classified as an international terrorist organization.

The document, personally delivered to Trump's Department of War (the new name he gave to the former Department of Defense), requests economic sanctions and military cooperation under the antiterrorism framework—the same doctrine the US applies in the Middle East. This unprecedented initiative reveals the governor's effort to align himself with Trump's "narcoterrorism" agenda, offering the state of Rio de Janeiro as a showcase for hemispheric war policy.

The rhetoric of "narcoterrorism," exported by Donald Trump, allows local governments to justify executions in the name of national security. In Brazil, the term has become a code word to legitimize massacres in favelas and create political bridges with the US Southern Command.

Faith and the rifle - Castro's trajectory embodies the new alliance between religion, police, and politics that is reshaping contemporary Brazil. A Catholic by origin, he moves with ease between evangelical pulpits, charismatic churches, and military barracks. His moralistic discourse, his "God above all" rhetoric, and his proximity to the Liberal Party (PL) place him within the same ideological orbit that unites Bolsonaro's supporters with Trumpism, the Brazilian far-right with Trumpism.

The fact that Castro personally delivered a report to Washington calling for the classification of Comando Vermelho as an international terrorist group confirms that the rhetoric of "narcoterrorism" has moved beyond discourse and into geopolitics. Faith and guns now cross borders. The singing governor presents himself to the US as an ally in the "war on evil," while at home he commands a war against his own people.

Castro at the Supreme Federal Court, Superior Electoral Court, Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry, and Legislative Assembly of Rio de Janeiro. This Wednesday, November 5th, Castro remains in the media and on social networks.

In the Supreme Federal Court: crimes against national sovereignty and treason.
The governor of Rio de Janeiro, Cláudio Castro (PL), responsible for the deadliest police operation in the country's history, has become the target of a complaint filed with the Supreme Federal Court (STF) by Congressman Lindbergh Farias (PT-RJ) for the crimes of attacking national sovereignty and treason.

In the TSE (Superior Electoral Court): vote for annulment.
Minister Isabel Gallotti, rapporteur at the Superior Electoral Court (TSE), voted this Tuesday, the 4th, for the removal from office of the governor of Rio de Janeiro, Cláudio Castro, and for his ineligibility for eight years. He is accused in the process that deals with alleged irregular hiring practices in Foundations and at the State University of Rio de Janeiro (Uerj).

Parliamentary Inquiry Commission on Organized Crime
The Senate's CPI (Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry) approved on Tuesday, the 4th, an invitation to hear from governors, among them Cláudio Castro (RJ). The senators want the governor to clarify the relationship between Organized Crime and Operation Containment or the Alemão and Penha Massacre.

ALERJ: Impeachment
State deputies filed a request for impeachment against the governor of Rio de Janeiro, Cláudio Castro (PL), this Tuesday, the 4th. The reason is the police operation that resulted in 121 deaths in the Penha and Alemão complexes last week, considered the deadliest in the state's history.

The rhyme of death with luck in Castro's refrain - The refrain of the sacred song "Jesus, it's impossible not to believe in You," a favorite of gospel singer Cláudio Castro, will have to continue being sung, on one's knees and in the manner of a prayer, by a fervent follower, begging his Jesus to deliver him from punishments here on earth in places similar to hell.

"What seemed impossible, what seemed hopeless, what seemed like my death, by a miracle I am here. Jesus, it's impossible not to believe in You."

The refrain that once pleaded for miracles now echoes as a confession: "What seemed impossible..." has happened—in the form of a massacre bathed in blood and tears, rifles, gunshots, beatings, bombs, torture, and death. In the name of "Jesus, it's impossible not to believe in You. of the son of God adopted by Cláudio Castro.