Brazil’s Flávio Bolsonaro Names Health Minister and Pledges Amnesty in Globo Interview
BRAZIL · ELECTIONS 2026
Key Facts
—What happened: Flávio Bolsonaro faced Globo’s Jornal Nacional interview on Friday night and named Cláudio Lottenberg as his future health minister.
—The pledge: He promised amnesty for coup-plot and 8 January convicts, a group that includes his imprisoned father, Jair Bolsonaro.
—The catch: Pressed for the numbers behind his promised fiscal “mega-cut”, he declined to show any spreadsheet.
—On the vote: He said he will respect the election result and expects to win outright in the first round on 4 October.
—On climate: He refused to say human activity drives global warming, citing “extreme weather events” and hotter and colder epochs.
—The detail: Cameras caught handwritten notes on his left palm reading “Change, Future and 7/Sep”.
Flávio Bolsonaro faced forty live minutes on Brazil’s most-watched newscast on Friday night. He named a health minister, promised amnesty for his father and declined to blame humans for global warming.
A prime-time test at the Globo studios
The interview aired live on TV Globo right after Jornal Nacional, the country’s flagship evening newscast. It ran for about forty minutes from the network’s studios in Rio de Janeiro.
Journalists Renata Vasconcellos and César Tralli asked the questions. Flávio Bolsonaro was the fifth of six leading candidates to sit in the chair this week.
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva had his turn on Thursday night. The series closes on Saturday with Augusto Cury of the Avante party.
The slot matters because it reaches voters who follow little campaign news. Jornal Nacional still draws Brazil’s biggest news audience.
A doctor for the Health Ministry
The clearest news of the night came when Flávio Bolsonaro named Cláudio Lottenberg as his health minister if he wins in October. It is the first cabinet name he has committed to in public.
Lottenberg is a physician and former president of the Albert Einstein Israelite Hospital in São Paulo, one of Latin America’s best-known hospitals. He also heads the Israeli Confederation of Brazil, the country’s main Jewish umbrella organization.
The choice signals a technocratic profile for a ministry still scarred by the pandemic years. It also reaches out to business leaders and the Jewish community at the same time.
Health is traditionally a weak spot for the Brazilian right. The public system, known by its Portuguese initials SUS, remains broadly popular with voters.
Amnesty for his father, and for 8 January
Asked about the coup-plot trial that put his father in prison, Flávio Bolsonaro called the proceedings a farce. He said the former president was judged by his enemies.
He then committed on live television to pursue pardons and an amnesty. The beneficiaries would include those convicted over the coup plot and the 8 January 2023 attacks on government buildings in Brasília.
Jair Bolsonaro was convicted of attempting a coup after losing the 2022 election. An amnesty would need approval in Congress, while a pardon sits with the president.
That promise is now the sharpest dividing line between the two frontrunners. Lula has repeatedly rejected any amnesty for the January 8 rioters.
The “mega-cut” without a spreadsheet
On the economy, the senator promised a deep fiscal adjustment he calls a “tesouraço”, Portuguese for big scissors. The plan means cuts to taxes, bureaucracy and what he describes as corruption.
He has told rallies the cuts would start in January and take Brazil “out of the red”. He warned that the public accounts cannot keep going the way they are.
Asked how much he would actually cut, he gave no figure. When Vasconcellos asked whether he would show the spreadsheet, he changed the subject to Lula.
Voting machines and the result
Vasconcellos pressed him on the electronic voting machines that he and his father attacked for years. The senator denied having questioned the system, but fact-checkers quickly showed past statements doing exactly that.
Agência Lupa, a Brazilian fact-checking agency, rated his denial false. It cited his posts from 2018 and 2021 that cast doubt on the integrity of the vote.
Asked directly whether he would respect the result if he loses, he answered that he will win in the first round. That was not a no, but it was not quite a yes either.
Climate: “epochs that are hotter”
One of the night’s most replayed moments came on climate change. Vasconcellos recalled a past article in which the senator questioned global warming.
He answered that there are extreme weather events and hotter and colder epochs. He said he does not believe this comes directly from human influence on the environment.
That runs against the scientific consensus. The United Nations climate panel, known as the IPCC, says human activity is the main driver of global warming, and Lupa rated his answer false.
The Vorcaro questions that would not go away
The toughest stretch covered Daniel Vorcaro, the banker behind the failed Banco Master. Flávio Bolsonaro asked Vorcaro for R$61 million (US$11.8 million) to finance Dark Horse, a film about his father.
He insisted the money was a sponsorship and that nothing reached him personally. “There is absolutely nothing wrong” with seeking the sponsorship, he said.
Lupa also found that he overstated his push for a congressional inquiry into the bank. He signed only two of five Senate requests, and only after the leaked audio became public in May.
The notes on his hand
Viewers also spotted handwriting on the senator’s left palm during the broadcast. The notes read “Change, Future and 7/Sep”, a nod to Independence Day on 7 September.
The crib sheet fed a long night of memes on Brazilian social media. His opponents called it proof of a scripted performance.
What it means for the race
The interview came five weeks before the first round on 4 October. Both Flávio Bolsonaro and Lula say they expect to win without a run-off.
Free campaign airtime also began on Friday across Brazilian television. That changes the rhythm of the race from now on.
The senator skipped the first televised debate last Sunday, and so did Lula. Friday night was therefore his first long, live test as a presidential candidate.
Frequently Asked Questions
What did Flávio Bolsonaro announce in the Globo interview?
He named physician Cláudio Lottenberg as his future health minister. He also pledged to pursue amnesty for those convicted over the coup plot and the 8 January 2023 attacks, a group that includes his father, former president Jair Bolsonaro.
Who is Cláudio Lottenberg?
Lottenberg is a doctor and former president of the Albert Einstein Israelite Hospital in São Paulo. He also heads the Israeli Confederation of Brazil, the country’s main Jewish umbrella organization.
Will Flávio Bolsonaro respect the election result?
Asked directly, he said he expects to win in the first round on 4 October. He denied past attacks on the electronic voting system, a claim fact-checkers rated false.
What did he say about global warming?
He spoke of “extreme weather events” and hotter and colder epochs. He declined to say human activity drives global warming, contradicting the United Nations climate panel’s consensus.
What was written on Flávio Bolsonaro’s hand?
Cameras showed handwritten notes on his left palm reading “Change, Future and 7/Sep”. That is a reference to Brazil’s Independence Day on 7 September.
Connected Coverage
Lula’s turn in the same chair is in Lula’s Jornal Nacional Interview Puts Brazil’s Debt and His Son in the Spotlight. The money trail behind the Dark Horse film ran through Eduardo Bolsonaro Drawn into Vorcaro’s Texas-Fund Trail. Follow the full race on our Brazil hub.
Sources: TV Globo’s Jornal Nacional broadcast of 28 August 2026; Agência Lupa live fact-check; Estadão; InfoMoney; Terra; Canal MyNews. Exchange rate: R$5.16 = US$1 (29 August 2026).
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error
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