Secret service affair in Brazil
Police search addresses of Bolsonaro’s son
January 29, 2024, 9:56 p.m
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During Jair Bolsonaro’s term in office, the Brazilian secret service is said to have spied on the right-wing populist’s political opponents. Now the authorities are investigating. Several addresses of one of the ex-president’s sons are being searched.
In the affair surrounding the alleged spying on political opponents of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, the rooms of one of his sons were searched. The federal police said the searches were related to a possible “criminal organization within the Brazilian secret service.” It is said from their circles that Carlos Bolsonaro’s addresses were the target of searches.
Carlos Bolsonaro is the second eldest son of the former right-wing extremist president and member of the Rio de Janeiro city parliament. According to newspaper reports, the raids included, among other things, his home in the metropolis of millions and his offices in the city assembly.
Under President Jair Bolsonaro, political opponents are said to have been spied on illegally. A group led by the then secret service chief Alexandre Ramagem is said to have set up a “parallel structure” within the Abin secret service. The secret service’s instruments were used illegally to obtain information for “political and media purposes, for personal benefits and to hinder federal police investigations,” the police said last week.
The ultra-right incumbent Jair Bolsonaro lost the presidential election in 2022 against the left-wing politician and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. In June, the electoral court banned him from running for political office for the next eight years because of his unsubstantiated allegations of fraud against Brazil’s electoral system. There are also several ongoing investigations into allegations of corruption and abuse of office.