Planalto escalates rhetoric against Derrite and seeks to reverse anti-faction bill.

The Planalto Palace has raised its tone against the rapporteur of the anti-faction project in the Chamber of Deputies, Guilherme Derrite (PP-SP), and seeks to reverse points of the text before the vote in the House plenary, scheduled for this Tuesday (11).

One of the main criticisms from government supporters is that the changes made by Derrite restrict the power of the Federal Police. The corporation itself states that operations would now depend on requests to state governments, compromising the scope and results of investigations, for example.

The Minister of Institutional Relations, Gleisi Hoffmann, went so far as to describe the text modified by Derrite as "a gift to the factions" .

Another point of contention is that Derrite could, in practice, equate factions with terrorism, a point expressly rejected by the government.

According to allies of President Lula, the modified bill has the potential to shield investigations against members of parliament. In other words, it could serve as a new PEC (Proposed Amendment to the Constitution) on protection, a proposal that was shelved by the Senate after strong public pressure.

Faced with resistance, the Speaker of the House, Hugo Motta (Republicanos-PB), stated that he mediated talks between Derrite and the Director-General of the Federal Police to ensure that the institution maintains its responsibilities against organized crime.

Nevertheless, Gleisi stated that "there is no and will be no agreement that suppresses the powers, responsibilities, and autonomy of the Federal Police." "We view with concern any maneuver to modify the role of the Federal Police in combating organized crime."

Motta plans to meet with the minister this Tuesday. He was responsible for appointing Derrite as rapporteur for the proposal. Derrite is a licensed congressman and public security secretary for the governor of São Paulo, Tarcísio de Freitas (Republicanos) -- a potential opponent of Lula in the 2026 elections --, but has now returned to the Chamber solely for this task.

Therefore, Motta is trying to convey the climate of distrust within the federal government and ensure the anti-gang bill is voted on in the plenary session.

Motta's choice of Derrite irritated allies in the Planalto Palace, who see the decision as a political move. Although Motta maintains a good relationship with Lula, members of the Workers' Party believe that Derrite's appointment has diminished the Executive's authorship and transformed the debate on public security into a premature electoral battle.

There is also a fear that Derrite's role as rapporteur will strengthen Tarcísio's electoral ambitions for next year.

“I thought it was very undignified, because it was a proposal from the Executive Branch, it was a proposal from President Lula. It's as if they took away President Lula's authorship,” stated the PT leader in the Chamber of Deputies, Lindbergh Farias (RJ) .

Derrite, for his part, told CNN that his opinion will be technical and without political motivations.

"All institutional vanity must be set aside at this moment, and we will promote legislation that truly fosters integration between the states."

Motta even met this Monday (10) with Minister Alexandre de Moraes, of the STF (Supreme Federal Court), and with the Attorney General of the Republic, Paulo Gonet, to discuss the matter.

“I just left the Supreme Federal Court, where I participated in a meeting to discuss the public security agenda. The Vice-President of the STF, Minister Alexandre de Moraes, the Attorney General of the Republic, Paulo Gonet, and the 27 state prosecutors of the country participated. This is a time for institutions to unite against organized crime.”

Earlier, Moraes — the rapporteur for the case concerning the actions of security forces in favelas — ordered the preservation of images from body cameras used in the recent mega-operation in Rio de Janeiro and suspended investigations against those who removed bodies from the wooded area.

Meanwhile, on Sunday (9), at a summit of Latin American and Caribbean countries together with the European Union, in Colombia, Lula stated that there is no “magic solution to end crime”, and that the way out of the problem is to strangle the financing of organized crime and eliminate arms trafficking.

At the same event, without mentioning the United States, the president criticized the use of military force in the Caribbean Sea, where Americans have been shooting down boats allegedly belonging to criminal factions and transporting drugs.

“Old rhetorical maneuvers are being recycled to justify illegal interventions. We are a region of peace and we want to remain at peace. Democracies do not fight crime by violating international law,” he declared.