Aécio: Northeast Brazil and security are a priority.

Iolando Lourenço - Reporter for Agência Brasil - Presidential candidate Aécio Neves (PSDB) said yesterday (12) that public security will be one of the priorities of his government, if elected, with the adoption of policies in the sector, reform of the Penal and Criminal Procedure codes. “Public security will be an absolute priority of our government,” he said in an interview at events in Imperatriz (MA).

The candidate also said that violence rates in the Northeast are increasing "because the federal government is not taking care of our borders and is not acting to repress drug trafficking and arms trafficking, which are the root causes of many of these deaths."

In a press conference, Aécio Neves promised to transform the Ministry of Justice into a Ministry of Public Security and Justice, and that there would be no budget cuts for the security sector. According to him, it is possible that some of the police officers currently working in administrative roles could be reassigned to street patrols, and the federal government would then assist states with funding to pay for administrative personnel who would replace the police officers.

According to the candidate, the Bolsa Família program will be maintained and transformed into a state policy. The candidate praised former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva for expanding the program, but reminded everyone that Bolsa Família was initiated during the government of former president Fernando Henrique Cardoso along with Bolsa Escola, Bolsa Alimentação, and other programs.

In addition to maintaining the Bolsa Família program, Aécio said he will work to ensure that beneficiary families receive training. "I want these families to be more qualified; I want to make Brazil grow and develop again to generate increasingly better quality jobs."

Speaking about policies for the development of the Northeast, the candidate said that the region will be one of the priorities of his government, with improvements to infrastructure to make the region more competitive and investments in various areas. He recalled that 60 years ago, Juscelino Kubitschek recognized the region's potential and, with the construction of the Belém-Brasília highway, allowed the Northeast to find a path to economic and social development.

“What I want to offer to the Brazilian Northeast is a pact. A pact of permanent solidarity, not electoral solidarity, which fundamentally involves investments in infrastructure, a great leap in the quality of education and health, but also the return and recovery of authority with regard to public security,” said Aécio Neves. Tonight, the candidate has campaign commitments in Teresina.