Brazil's first presidential debate of the 2026 election campaign took place on Sunday, August 23, at 8pm in São Paulo, hosted by broadcaster TV Bandeirantes. Three of the best-known contenders, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of the Workers' Party (PT), Senator Flávio Bolsonaro of the Liberal Party (PL), and former Minas Gerais governor Romeu Zema of Novo, all decided not to show up.
The candidates who did take part were the writer and psychiatrist Augusto Cury of Avante, Renan Santos of the Missão party, and former Goiás governor Ronaldo Caiado of the Social Democratic Party (PSD). Public security and education dominated the discussion, and much of the evening was taken up with criticism of the absent front-runners and of the current government.
Cury nearly walks out before it starts
Cury arrived at Band's headquarters and initially told reporters he was pulling out at the last moment, calling the debate irresponsible because the main players in the race were not present and describing it as disrespectful to Brazilians. He said he would not take part, calling the event theatre. Minutes later he reversed course, saying the decision to stay was made out of respect for the broadcaster.
According to CNN Brasil, aides to Lula had already signalled beforehand that the chances of his taking part were minimal. PL national president Valdemar Costa Neto argued that Flávio Bolsonaro should only appear at debates that Lula also attends, while Zema's campaign said in a statement that his absence was likewise tied to Lula's decision not to come.
Diapers and jabs as candidates arrive
Renan Santos was the first candidate to arrive, followed by Caiado. Santos criticised the no-shows by displaying adult diapers bearing the names of Lula and Flávio Bolsonaro. He told reporters he was presenting their diapers because both men should have worn them, calling them two failures and two cowards, and said the pair were fleeing the debate while falsely claiming his own presence was the reason they were staying away.
Caiado said the two runaways were not present and argued that Brazilian voters could not help feeling disappointed and disrespected by the absence of men he said had nothing to show and much to hide.
Security and education dominate first round
In the opening segment, Santos said that, if elected, he would intervene in states that failed to act against organised crime, naming Ceará and Bahia, governed respectively by Elmano de Freitas and Jerônimo Rodrigues, both of the PT, as states that could face federal intervention under his government. He said that if the governors of the two states were re-elected and refused to confront organised crime, he would intervene, calling it a war. Santos also said he would decree a Guarantee of Law and Order operation in areas hit by organised crime and proposed building "super prisons" that would add up to 500,000 places to the penitentiary system.
Caiado proposed confiscating the assets of men who attack women and handing them to the families of femicide victims, describing it as a form of educational punishment. He said such men typically attack women because they believe they own them, and that he would ask Congress to confiscate their assets, alongside extended sentences of 20 to 40 years depending on the severity of the violence and a rule barring early release before 90 percent of the sentence is served.
On education, Cury said Brazil's school system excludes neurodivergent students and criticised what he called a rigid, "Cartesian" model of teaching, calling for a revolution in public education. He said teachers act as cooks preparing food for an audience with no appetite, worn down by digital overload and a cold, dry style of instruction.
Journalists press candidates on policy
In the second segment, journalists put questions directly to the candidates. Caiado criticised the stance of Brazil's foreign ministry, Itamaraty, Santos spoke out against ending the 6x1 work schedule, and Cury defended the country's agribusiness sector.
Asked about his view that public security should be run by state governments and about the use of body cameras on military police, Caiado accused the current government of being complicit with criminal factions and of having capitulated to crime. He called for the use of artificial intelligence, better training for police battalions, integration of security forces, and respect for governors' authority over security policy.
Responding to Caiado, Santos accused the Lula government of trying to concentrate control over public security, saying the PT has a hunger for power and wants to hold the police back rather than use them against criminals, calling the party an enemy of police forces in every state.
Caiado went on to defend a constitutional amendment on public security currently before the Senate, criticising Lula for tying its approval to the creation of a Ministry of Public Security. He pledged to build 40 federal prisons, arguing that state prisons are full of factional criminals, which he considers a federal responsibility, and said the federal government leaves the burden to the states without transferring funds from either the Penitentiary Fund or the Public Security Fund.
Cury, questioned on relations between Brazil and the United States, said the country must not be subservient to Washington, argued that recent US tariff increases mask a desperation to fix American public finances, and pledged to overhaul Brazil's embassies abroad.
Absent rivals targeted again in final round
The closing segment featured further attacks from Santos and Caiado on Lula and Flávio Bolsonaro, while Cury proposed creating a new crime-fighting force and strengthening the Federal Police.
Santos described the situation as a rigged game, saying Lula wants Flávio Bolsonaro to be his opponent because he is the only candidate Lula believes he can beat, calling Flávio weak, unintelligent and afflicted by serious cognitive deficits. He likened Flávio to the runt of a litter whose brothers are Carlos Bolsonaro and Jair Renan Bolsonaro, and said Flávio is tied to every possible corruption scandal. Santos said that in a runoff the real contest would be over who is the closer friend of Daniel Vorcaro, which he said voters must not allow, accusing both men of running away like frightened dogs.
Caiado invoked the title of a biographical film about former president Jair Bolsonaro, "Dark Horse," to criticise Flávio's absence, and coined the term "Dark Lobby" for Lula, a reference to investigations involving Lula's son Fábio Luís Lula da Silva, known as Lulinha, and lobbyist Roberta Luchsinger. Caiado said he had previously challenged Flávio to explain the allegations against him but received no answer, and said Lula likewise had his own "Dark Lobby," naming Luchsinger and Lulinha as central figures.
Cury said he would create a "focus police" force made up of 5 percent of the workforce of every municipality, adding 400,000 officers trained by the elite of existing security forces to build what he called a security ecosystem powerful enough to get ahead of crime, adding that a disorganised state is worse than organised crime itself. On the Federal Police, he called for more personnel and said the force suffers from political interference, noting that the FBI has 38,000 officers while Brazil's Federal Police has fewer than 15,000 yet does the same work heroically.
How the debate was structured
Under the format, moderators opened with rounds of identical questions for every candidate, with two minutes allowed for each to present proposals. In rounds involving questions from journalists or exchanges between candidates, the questioner had up to one minute to pose the question, and the candidate answering had four minutes including any rebuttal and counter-rebuttal.
TV Bandeirantes held a draw, attended by campaign advisers and coordinators, to set the candidates' positions in the studio. From left to right, the lineup was designated as Renan Santos, followed by Lula and Flávio Bolsonaro, then Ronaldo Caiado, Augusto Cury and Romeu Zema. The podiums assigned to no-show candidates were left empty.
Under Brazilian electoral law, candidates from parties with at least five members of Congress are eligible to take part in debates, provided their candidacy has been approved. The number of participants and other debate rules are set by agreement between the parties and the broadcaster, with the Electoral Justice notified.
