National vice-president of União Brasil makes statement after governor states that security problem is ‘national’

The national vice-president of União Brasil, ACM Neto, called, this Monday (21), governor Jerônimo Rodrigues (PT) a “negationist” after the PT member repeated the speech that violence is a “national” problem.

The former mayor of Salvador said that the head of the Bahian Executive ignores the seriousness of the violence rates in the state. “All you have to do is read the comments on any post about this topic on social media. People are scared, alarmed”, stated ACM Neto.

This Monday (21), the governor, without mentioning names, said that “opportunistic politicians want to make this serious issue (violence) an electoral springboard”, during an official statement published on social media. This is not the first time that Jerônimo Rodrigues has attacked opponents who point out the problems of state public security. Last week, he said that the opposition appears to be “spokesmen for organized crime”.

ACM Neto stated that Jerônimo holds opponents and critics responsible for the situation. For the former mayor, the public security crisis is the result of the “incompetence” of the PT government, which has administered Bahia for 18 years. “Police officers today are also victims of this management. It’s not their responsibility, it’s yours and your party’s,” he stressed.

The vice-president of União Brasil highlighted that “no state is experiencing a situation as serious as Bahia”. The former mayor declared that the PT member needs to “have the humility to recognize the problem”.

Last Wednesday (16), when Salvador had its second bus set on fire in the week, Jerônimo Rodrigues said that violence is a “national” problem. The PT member also declared that the bus fires and gunfire were responses to police operations in the region.

“We have municipalities that have been without violent cases or violent deaths for two, three years. It is not possible to say that our police are not doing anything. We are also monitoring scenarios in Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Goiás, Minas Gerais and other states. It’s (a) national problem,” said Jerônimo, in a press interview.

The governor also highlighted that he hopes to be called by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) to deal with public security after the second round of elections ends.

“What we saw recently was a response to police operations in search of criminal factions, the burning of buses, exchanges of gunfire, it is a reaction. It is not an action for the police. We are paying attention to this. We are carrying out daily operations,” he added.