Brazil Police Investigating Former Intelligence Chief for Spying on Jair Bolsonaro's Political Opponents

During Jair Bolsonaro's tenure as president, he may have spied on his political opponents, even ordering his own intelligence chief to do so, as Brazil's former intelligence chief, Alexandre Ramagem, was targeted by search warrants authorized by the Supreme Court.

This is part of the wider probe of Bolsonaro's alleged spying on political opponents during his presidency. Police are also investigating an "organized crime" group that operates within the country's intelligence agency, known as ABIN, a Portuguese acronym.

According to the Associated Press, this particular group ran a "parallel structure" within ABIN and used the agency's various tools and services "for illicit actions, producing information for political and media use, to obtain personal benefits and interfere with police investigations."

Ramagem allegedly used software developed by Israeli company Cognyte known as FirstMile "to monitor targets and public authorities ... with the aim of creating false narratives." This is according to a report found by Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes.

Former Brazil Intelligence Chief Supplied Intelligence Regarding Prosecution of Jair Bolsonaro's Son

This political spying by the Brazilian intelligence chief on behalf of then-President Jair Bolsonaro was also used to interfere with police investigations, particularly those that involved two of Bolsonaro's sons, Jair Renan and Flávio, the latter being a sitting senator.

Reuters received a copy of the decision, and it showed Ramagen used ABIN resources to help Flavio Bolsonaro in his defense in a corruption case. The Bolsonaro son, however, denied that he used ABIN in his favor, while his brother, Jair Renan Bolsonaro, declined to comment.

For his part, Ramagemn denies these allegations, telling a local Brazilian news network that "It is a mix of old and outdated narratives used to criminally accuse people without any evidence." He is currently running to be mayor of Rio de Janeiro.

Brazilian police carried out a total of 21 search and seizure raids across Brazil, including in Brasilia and Rio de Janeiro. They seized cell phones and laptops, including one that was ABIN's property, in one of Ramagem's apartments.

What Brazil Police Found in Their Investigations of Former Jair Bolsonaro Intelligence Chief

Supreme Court justice and electoral court chief Alexandre de Moraes wrote in his order that "Federal police have identified the existence of a criminal organization set up to illegally monitor individuals and public authorities... without judicial authorization," leading to the raids against former ABIN officials.

The former intelligence chief, a well-known Bolsonaro loyalist, used the resources of his agency to look into the activities of Moraes himself, as well as fellow Supreme Court Justice Gilmar Mendes, former lower-house speaker Rodrigo Maia, and now Education Minister Camilo Santana, who was the governor of Ceara state at the time of the spying. All of whom are considered political opponents of Jair Bolsonaro.

ABIN personnel reportedly used the tracking software more than 30,000 times and targeted 1,800 people, including journalists, lawyers, and critics of the Bolsonaro administration.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

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