'The one who is harming Flávio's campaign is himself', says Caiado The pre-candidate for the Presidency of the Republic for the PSD, Ronaldo Caiado, stated that "the one who is harming Flávio's (Bolsonaro) campaign is himself". The statement was made during Caiado's agenda in Rio Grande do Sul this Friday (17), after a question about the photo of Flávio with Vorcaro's 'Sicário'. The former governor of Goiás said he did not know how to assess whether the image was a montage and avoided answering whether he believed in the version presented by the senator. Instead, he stated that the public debate was being diverted from issues that he considers central to the country. "Who is harming Flávio's campaign? Who is it? Himself. It's his problems, his personal problems. That's what is compromising his campaign", he declared. ? Access the g1 RS channel on WhatsApp ? Phillipi Machado de Moraes Mourão, known as "Sicário", was appointed by the Federal Police as coordinator of the group "A Turma", which acted as Daniel Vorcaro's private militia. He was arrested in March 2026 during the 3rd Operation Compliance Zero and died after attempting suicide in prison. At a press conference in the morning in Santo Ângelo, Caiado also criticized the Lula government when commenting on the trade crisis with the United States. Read below. In the afternoon, he would visit Santa Maria to meet PSD leaders, but the schedule was canceled due to bad weather. Caiado heads to Porto Alegre, where he must meet with Mayor Sebastião Melo (MDB). This year, Caiado has already been to Rio Grande do Sul on two occasions. After new tariffs from the US, Caiado criticizes Marco Rubio's speech about Lula: 'an unfortunate statement' Caiado criticizes the government's negotiations with the US on tariffs: 'There is a lack of attitude from the chancellery' Ronaldo Caiado (PSD) is on a schedule in Rio Grande do Sul this Friday (17), passing through Santo Ângelo and Porto Alegre. Reproduction/RBS TV Crisis with the United States When commenting on foreign policy, Caiado stated that Lula would be encouraging confrontation with Donald Trump out of electoral interest, to adopt a discourse in defense of national sovereignty. "Lula wants the tariff, he wants to fight with Trump in any way. That's what he's been motivating since he entered the Presidency, this daily provocation so he can think that now he's going to act like a patriot," he said. In Caiado's assessment, Lula was trying to present himself as a defender of the country, despite, according to him, having “handed Brazil over to corruption and organized crime”. The pre-candidate also criticized the American Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, saying that his statements ended up acting like those of a “Lula electoral campaign”. For Caiado, by penalizing the country due to a bad relationship with the Brazilian government, Rubio would fail to consider the impacts on the population. “Both Lula and Flávio are playing the same game, each interested in being elected in the face of this crisis caused by the United States”, he concluded. In Passo Fundo, this Thursday (16), the pre-candidate criticized Itamaraty's actions in cases of tariffs imposed by the United States and the blocking of exports to the European Union. 'Elections are not elected by the rejected', says Caiado about the Quaest Quaest survey: Lula leads with 45% in the 2nd round, against 37% for Flávio Bolsonaro In RS, Caiado says the objective is to 'break polarization that holds the country back' VIDEOS: Everything about RS