The patriarch is always involved in the election campaign. He appeared as an AI version in the video; his father is in the blood of his veins, says the son and pats his forearm; then again Flávio Bolsonaro holds up portraits and banners emblazoned with the face of Jair Bolsonaro.
And he repeats a message again and again: that he wants to take office as the newly elected president at his father's side: "All those who tried to bury Bolsonaro alive will see how Flávio Bolsonaro will walk up the ramp to the presidential palace together with Jair Bolsonaro," he shouts to the audience at his appearance in Porto Alegre a few days ago.
Freedom for Jair Bolsonaro is the core message of his campaign, even if there are some legal hurdles. Finally, Jair Bolsonaro was sentenced by Brazil's Supreme Court to more than 27 years in prison for an attempted coup following his election defeat against incumbent President Luis Ionácio Lula da Silva.
But hardly anyone doubts that the senior would be released and even pull the strings in the background if the "zero one", the eldest son Flávio, became president. The military-oriented father Jair numbered his sons, all four are in politics, just like Jair's brother and his wife.
Candidacy as a family project
Like Donald Trump in the USA or Javier Milei in Argentina, Flávio runs with the rhetoric of a political outsider, an anti-establishment politician. But the opposite is the case, says investigative journalist Juliana dal Piva, who specializes in the Bolsonaro movement: "Flávio is only running for president to politically save his father and his family so that they can return to power and continue their course from the last four years even more radically."
The 45-year-old Senator for Rio de Janeiro, Flávio Bolsonaro, was able to count on the same conservative support groups as his father in the first round of voting: influential farmers, big business owners and evangelicals. He promises budget discipline and tax cuts, maintains close ties to the MAGA movement in the USA and declared war on the growing drug gangs in Brazil.
More moderate, but no less radical
Flávio looks similar to his father Jair and was a close advisor during his presidency, but he doesn't have his charisma. On the other hand, he speaks less aggressively than the former president, who is known for his racist, homophobic and misogynistic statements.
Flávio Bolsoanro appears more moderate, but the impression is deceptive: "There are no moderate Bolsonaros," says former federal deputy Julián Lemos, who helped organize Jair Bolsonaro's campaign in 2018, a once close confidant who then broke with the family and now warns against them. "Jair Bolsonaro is more authentic, but Flávio is more intelligent, or let's say: more cunning."
Investigations into corruption, money laundering and profiteering
The Bolsonaros' center of power is Rio de Janeiro, a city where the ties between politics and the underworld are considered to be particularly close. All of the governors who were directly elected in Rio since the end of the dictatorship and are still alive have been or are facing legal proceedings, and five have even been in prison.
Flávio Bolsonaro's rise began in Rio. From 2003 to 2019 he was a member of the state parliament, more of a backbencher, but a good networker.
During this time he is said to have put a large part of his employees' salaries into his own pocket, the equivalent of around two million euros. The head of the federal police who investigated the case was replaced under Father Jair's presidency and the trial was closed due to procedural errors. It is not the only scandal: investigations into corruption, money laundering and taking advantage are ongoing.
Bolsonaro denies all allegations against him. Julián Lemos, on the other hand, says: "My trust in him to fight organized crime is zero." Rather, Flávio Bolsonaro would take the structures of organized crime from Rio de Janeiro with him to the federal government.
Connections to criminal gangs?
The fact that the Bolsonaros had connections to so-called militias, i.e. criminal gangs that mostly consist of ex-police officers and, like drug gangs, control entire city districts, has been the subject of a lot of research and revelations in recent years.
"It even went so far that Flávio gave awards to some well-known militia members through the state parliament," explains Robert Muggah, who co-founded the Igarapé Institute, one of the leading think tanks on public security in Brazil: "They were honored for their supposed services as 'outstanding citizens'."
The federal police are also currently investigating whether funds from Bolsonaro's Senate office were used improperly and were funneled to a militia member who was convicted of complicity in the murder of city councilor Marielle Franco in Rio in 2018.
Separately, investigations are underway into Flávio Bolsonaro's role in the "Dark Horse" case, a film about his father. Flávio is said to have solicited millions of dollars from a now-imprisoned banker who is at the center of the largest financial fraud scandal in Brazil's recent history. Here too, Bolsonaro rejects all allegations. But if Bolsonaro wins, it is unlikely that these investigations will continue, Muggah believes. "One can assume that a large proportion of these cases will disappear from the table fairly quickly. This should concern everyone who is concerned about the rule of law and impunity."
Big rejection of Lula
These are serious allegations, but they don't seem to deter his voters. Bolsonarismo is a movement that not only gave a voice to the extreme right. They also benefit from the great rejection of the left-wing Workers' Party and, above all, the incumbent President Lula da Silva, says investigative journalist dal Piva.
The 60-year-old entrepreneur Luis Henrique Vilaba explains during Bolsonaro's election campaign appearance in Porto Alegre, southern Brazil: "The Workers' Party no longer has the legitimacy to govern. There are too many lies, too much theft, too many scandals." A change is needed - and that's what Flávio Bolsonaro represents.
It is he who manages the family's business, says dal Piva - but another question is whether he can establish himself as an independent power politician. His most important political asset remains the name Bolsonaro - at least for his supporters.
