Brazil: Police Say 'Parallel' Spy Agency Snooped on Bolsonaro Rivals

0:00

/1861

1×

Facts

• The Brazilian Federal Police have alleged in a 187-page document that the country's intelligence agency (ABIN) was weaponized during the Jair Bolsonaro right-wing administration (2019-2022) to monitor and harass the then-president's rivals.¹
• The so-called parallel spy agency is said to have illegally targeted journalists and top public figures, including Supreme Court Justices Alexandre de Moraes, Luís Roberto Barroso, Luiz Fux, and Dias Toffoli, and Chamber Speaker Arthur Lira.²
• According to the ongoing investigation, ABIN was also used to monitor tax auditors investigating Bolsonaro's son, Flávio, in a probe into corruption allegations.³
• On Thursday, police carried out preventive arrest warrants against five individuals suspected of being part of a criminal organization, including one that allegedly had a 'direct line' to the former president.⁴
• Jair Bolsonaro himself hasn't been formally accused of ordering any espionage, and Flávio has claimed that details have been released to hurt former spy chief Alexandre Ramagem's 2024 Rio de Janeiro mayoral bid.⁵
• Earlier this year, Pres. Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva fired deputy intelligence chief Alessandro Moretti amid claims that he had illegally passed information to Ramagem.⁶

Sources: ¹Guardian, ²Folha de S.Paulo, ³Reuters, ⁴Newsmax, ⁵Al Jazeera and ⁶BBC News.

Narratives

• Left narrative, as provided by Brasil de Fato. On top of his well-documented coup intentions after failing to win reelection in the past presidential election, it's now confirmed that Bolsonaro weaponized the state apparatus to monitor and persecute his political opponents. If there were still any doubts about whether the far-right leader poses a threat to democratic institutions, it's gone now that his parallel spy agency has been exposed.
• Right narrative, as provided by WSJ. You don't have to be a Bolsonaro supporter to see that Lula has weaponized the judicial system against his predecessor. Lula is a leftist career politician who was convicted on corruption charges before they were stunningly reversed by activist judges. Right-leaning figures across the nation are being censored, and checks and balances are being curtailed as the legal system is increasingly used as a weapon against opponents.

Predictions