BRAZIL · POLITICS
Key Facts
- The remark Senator Cid Gomes called central bank president Gabriel Galípolo a “Trojan horse”, in remarks Veja published on 14 November.
- The rate The Selic, Brazil’s benchmark interest rate, is 13.75% a year, held by the central bank on 4 November.
- Next decision The central bank’s rate committee, the Copom, decides next on 9 December.
- Prediction markets Polymarket, a crypto-based betting market, gives “no change” in December 88.0% (14 November, 12:28 p.m. ET).
- As of 14 November 2026, 17:35 GMT (12:35 p.m. US Eastern).
- Power Index Brazil ranks 1st of 14 in The Rio Times Latin America Power Index, with 74.2 points (November 2026 edition).
A Brazilian senator says the head of the central bank works for the financial market, just as the bank holds interest rates at 13.75%.
Published Saturday, 14 November 2026, 12:35 p.m. ET · Source: Banco Central do Brasil (BCB), Brazilian Senate records, Veja magazine, Agência Brasil
Brazilian senator Cid Gomes called the head of Brazil’s central bank a “Trojan horse” for the financial market in remarks that Veja, a Brazilian news magazine, published on Saturday, 14 November. Gomes leads the Brazilian Socialist Party (PSB) in the Senate, and the target of his attack is Gabriel Galípolo, president of the Banco Central do Brasil.
The row comes while the Selic, the rate the bank sets to steer inflation, stands at 13.75% a year, according to the BCB. That rate sets what Brazil’s government, companies and savers pay or earn on loans and bonds, which is why a fight over it matters to the real, Brazil’s currency, and to Brazilian assets held by US investors.
What We Know
Veja, on 14 November, quoted Gomes saying the power of the market is “very big” and that he does not know if President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will have “the courage to face it”. He added that Lula “tries to please Greeks and Trojans with high interest and compensatory policies”, using a Portuguese saying for pleasing everyone.
Gomes, a former governor of Ceará state who was re-elected to the Senate for another eight years, said the Trojan horse “has a first and last name: Gabriel Galípolo”. Veja did not publish a reply from Galípolo, and all quotes here are our translations from Portuguese.
The remarks are part of a wider debate over a proposal by economist André Lara Resende, whom Gomes credits as the man who “made the Plano Real”, the 1990s plan that ended Brazil’s hyperinflation. Lara Resende argued in a September article that one body should set fiscal and monetary targets together, and critics call that a rate cap; Gomes told Veja that it is the market, through the central bank, that fixes rates.
Gomes has attacked the bank before: at a Senate hearing with Galípolo in April 2025 he called its rate policy a “mamata”, a Portuguese word for a gravy train, O Povo newspaper of Ceará reported on 22 April 2025. In July 2025 he proposed extending the waiting period for former central bank directors to join financial firms from six months to four years, according to Rádio Senado, the Senate’s radio service.
Why It Matters
The BCB cut the Selic five times in a row, from 15% at the start of 2026 to 13.75%, effective 17 September, according to its rate series. On 4 November the Copom held the rate unanimously, Agência Brasil, the state news agency, reported that day, although the market had expected a 0.25-point cut.
Veja puts federal debt at 82.9% of gross domestic product (GDP), or R$11.1 trillion (about US$1.96 trillion at the BCB’s 13 November rate of R$5.65 per US$). It says critics of the rate count more than R$1 trillion (about US$177 billion) a year in interest to roll it over.
Critics of the high rate say inflation of 4.63% in the 12 months to October, only just above the 4.5% upper limit of the official target, does not justify keeping the Selic this high, according to BCB data and Veja. The bank points to inflation expectations that stay above target.
Live Market IntelligenceBrazil — Live Market Board
Rio Times · Live Market Intelligence
Brazil — Live Market Board
+0.66%
172,457.76
+0.66%
71,204.98
-0.84%
10,660.94
+0.34%
2,848,945
—
2,452.46
-0.02%
| Instrument | Last | Change | YoY | Prev. | High | Low | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IBOV | 172,457.76 | +0.66% | +9.73% | 171,324.31 | 172,715 | 171,132 | — |
| USD/BRL | 5.67 | +0.45% | +7.09% | 5.64 | 5.67 | 5.63 | — |
| SELIC | 13.75% | — | — | — | — | — | |
| PETR4 | 45.30 | +1.34% | +39.43% | 44.70 | 45.44 | 44.62 | 23,431,200 |
| VALE3 | 63.50 | -0.70% | -3.30% | 63.95 | 64.24 | 63.12 | 11,175,700 |
| ITUB4 | 42.27 | +1.42% | +7.66% | 41.68 | 42.56 | 41.62 | 19,532,400 |
| BBDC4 | 14.52 | +1.40% | -25.46% | 14.32 | 14.54 | 14.27 | 32,353,600 |
| BBAS3 | 15.10 | -2.45% | -32.89% | 15.48 | 15.60 | 14.98 | 85,573,900 |
| B3SA3 | 14.89 | +0.88% | +2.90% | 14.76 | 14.94 | 14.53 | 34,792,900 |
| ABEV3 | 15.79 | +0.25% | +15.85% | 15.75 | 15.83 | 15.64 | 13,254,800 |
| WEGE3 | 51.31 | -0.66% | +14.48% | 51.65 | 52.05 | 50.93 | 7,741,000 |
| PRIO3 | 63.30 | +0.00% | +58.93% | 63.30 | 63.83 | 62.65 | 10,460,300 |
| SUZB3 | 54.77 | -2.27% | +14.92% | 56.04 | 55.98 | 54.66 | 3,845,300 |
| RENT3 | 30.07 | +1.66% | -28.47% | 29.58 | 30.35 | 29.58 | 7,599,300 |
| AZZA3 | 15.91 | -5.86% | -45.85% | 16.90 | 17.10 | 15.72 | 6,641,600 |
| CSNA3 | 3.72 | -12.06% | -56.79% | 4.23 | 4.14 | 3.71 | 54,060,600 |
| GGBR4 | 24.73 | -0.96% | +30.78% | 24.97 | 25.09 | 24.53 | 5,458,200 |
| ENEV3 | 26.81 | -0.70% | +38.98% | 27.00 | 27.09 | 26.64 | 5,990,500 |
The Other Side
The Copom’s statement on 4 November described monetary policy as “substantially contractionary”, Agência Brasil reported. The bank argues that inflation expectations remain above target, which is why it held the rate.
What Prediction Markets Say
Polymarket, an online market where people bet real money on outcomes, priced “no change” at the 9 December Copom meeting at 88.0%, a 0.25-point cut at 7.3% and a 0.25-point rise at 1.2% at 12:28 p.m. ET on 14 November, with US$77,352 traded. For the January 2027 meeting it priced “no change” at 65.5% on US$13,633 traded.
Why we show this: prediction markets turn real-money bets into a live probability that moves within minutes of the news, which is why investors, campaigns and newsrooms in the United States now follow them closely. We show them next to polls and official results, never instead of them.
What To Watch
The Copom meets on 8 and 9 December, and its decision on the Selic is due on the second day, according to the BCB’s published calendar. The first meeting of 2027 is on 26 and 27 January, in the calendar the BCB released on 23 June 2026.
What Is Not Known
Veja did not say when the remarks were recorded, and neither Galípolo nor the central bank had answered Gomes in public when we published. We also do not know whether the Senate or the Chamber of Deputies will invite Lara Resende to present his plan, which Veja says some lawmakers want.
What It Means for You
If you hold Brazilian bonds, funds or the real through a US account, the Selic drives your return, and the dispute is over how fast it should fall. The real traded at R$5.65 per US$ on 13 November, according to the BCB, so the 9 December decision is the next test of how the market reads that argument.
Connected Coverage
Read the Brazil news hub, our earlier look at credit strain testing Galípolo, banks and investors and how the Iran oil shock tested the central bank.
Frequently Asked Questions
What did Cid Gomes say about Galípolo?
Veja reported on 14 November 2026 that Gomes said a “Trojan horse” had been placed inside the central bank, “with a first and last name: Gabriel Galípolo”. Veja did not publish a reply from Galípolo.
What is the Selic rate now?
The Selic is 13.75% a year, according to the BCB. The Copom held it unanimously on 4 November after five straight cuts from 15%.
When is the next Copom decision?
The Copom meets on 8 and 9 December 2026, with the decision due on 9 December, according to the BCB’s calendar. The first 2027 meeting is on 26 and 27 January.
Who is Cid Gomes?
Gomes is a senator from Ceará state, a former governor of Ceará and the leader of the Brazilian Socialist Party (PSB) in the Senate. Veja says he was re-elected for another eight years.
Sources: Banco Central do Brasil (BCB), Selic series https://api.bcb.gov.br/dados/serie/bcdata.sgs.432/dados and inflation series 13522, PTAX series 1; BCB Copom calendar https://www.bcb.gov.br/en/monetarypolicy/copomcalendar; Brazilian Senate / Rádio Senado, 3 July 2025 https://www12.senado.leg.br/radio/1/noticia/2025/07/03/cid-gomes-propoe-aumento-do-tempo-de-quarentena-para-ex-dirigentes-do-bcb-1. Veja, 14 November 2026 https://veja.abril.com.br/politica/galipolo-e-o-cavalo-de-troia-do-mercado-no-banco-central-diz-cid-gomes/; Agência Brasil, 4 November 2026 https://agenciabrasil.ebc.com.br/economia/noticia/2026-11/bc-surpreende-e-mantem-juros-basicos-em-1375-ao-ano; O Povo, 22 April 2025 https://mais.opovo.com.br/colunistas/vertical/2025/04/22/em-sessao-com-galipolo-cid-chama-politica-de-juros-do-bc-de-mamata.html; Polymarket https://polymarket.com/event/bank-of-brazil-decision-in-december-20260918, read 14 November 2026, 12:28 p.m. ET.
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated AI newsroom. Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Publisher and Editor-in-Chief. The Rio Times also runs Ask Rio Times, which answers from 100,000+ of our own articles, the daily Latin America Power Map, and prediction-market odds on elections and markets.. How we use AI · Report an error
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