At Assembleia de Deus event, Augusto Cury denies asking for votes and says he has long been close to evangelicals

Augusto Cury arrived at São Paulo’s Assembleia de Deus saying he had not come to ask for votes. The Avante candidate said he came instead to ask for the “heart” needed to pacify Brazil.

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I did not come here to ask for votes. I came here to ask for the heart to pacify this nation.

Cury met behind closed doors with José Wellington Bezerra da Costa, the church’s presiding pastor, and other Assembleia pastors. He said the visit stood “above the candidacy” and insisted that he had been close to evangelicals for decades, rather than trying to build a new relationship. He said the church’s leaders read and apply his books on self-help and mental health.

The meeting covered the importance of family, freedom of expression and religious freedom. Cury also highlighted the role of evangelical churches in sheltering people living on the streets. He said mental-health treatment could help prevent people with psychiatric disorders from returning to the streets, and described his political outlook as having “the best of capitalism” in his mind and a social heart. He linked that position to his own childhood, saying his parents and six children lived in a single room and that he had experienced pain rather than merely reading about it.

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In fact, I am not trying to get closer. I have already been close for decades.

Cury also addressed messages reportedly sent by banker Daniel Vorcaro to Supreme Federal Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes. He said “no one will be spared” in a government he led, and argued that any allegation against Moraes should face consequences if proven. Cury said he would nominate two women to future vacancies on the court, choosing legal professionals without party affiliation for five years and aged over 50. He also said he had discussed eight-year terms for justices with members of the court and Congress and would present a draft in his first week in office.

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No one will be spared.

The candidate denied that his campaign had illegally paid influencers, calling the activity spontaneous. He said the campaign spent about 50,000 reais on promotion. On gender violence, he called women “the gold of humanity” and proposed a geolocated alert button. He also said women pay up to 4% more in interest.

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My mind has the best of capitalism: meritocracy, family, entrepreneurship, freedom of expression and a leaner state. But my heart is social.