Flávio Bolsonaro Courts Centrão, Leaves Meeting Without Immediate Backing

Overview

• After a late-night meeting at his Brasília residence with PL’s Valdemar Costa Neto, PP’s Ciro Nogueira and União Brasil’s Antônio Rueda, Flávio Bolsonaro received no formal endorsements as leaders said they would take the proposal to their parties.
• A previously scheduled meeting earlier Monday collapsed due to absences by key Centrão figures, underscoring hesitation that persisted as Republicanos’ Marcos Pereira skipped the evening talks as well.
• São Paulo governor Tarcísio de Freitas said he will support Flávio yet called it early to judge the choice, while Ciro Nogueira publicly argued that Tarcísio or Paraná’s Ratinho Jr. would be better positioned to unify the right; União Brasil maintains Ronaldo Caiado as its option.
• Flávio’s weekend remark that he has a “price” to exit — interpreted as a push for an amnesty benefiting January 8 convicts, including his father — met resistance in Congress, where rapporteur Paulinho da Força says he will not endorse an unrestricted pardon, only sentence reductions.
• Financial markets swung on the political noise, with Friday’s selloff partly retracing on Monday as investors weighed the durability of Flávio’s bid and looked ahead to interest-rate decisions by Brazil’s central bank and the U.S. Federal Reserve.