Bolsonaro’s former intelligence chief is released by ICE in the US, according to sources

United States immigration authorities would have released this Wednesday Alexandre Ramagem, former head of intelligence of the Brazilian Government of Jair Bolsonaro, according to the son of the former president.

Eduardo Bolsonaro, who currently lives in the United States, reported Ramagem’s release on his official X account, saying that he is free and “back home”. «My sincerest gratitude to Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio for their sensitivity and attention in addressing the case of this true national hero», Bolsonaro added in his announcement. Along with Bolsonaro, others close to the former intelligence chief confirmed the news to Brazilian media. The release of Ramagem does not appear in the public records of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service (ICE) consulted by EFE.

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The Case of Bolsonaro’s Intelligence Chief in the U.S.

On April 13, Ramagem was arrested in Florida, where he was after fleeing his country last September, when he received a sentence of 16 years in prison for his participation in the coup plot that, according to the Supreme Court, was led by the far-rightist Bolsonaro after losing the 2022 elections.

Local media and allies of the former deputy said that the detention was due to merely migratory issues. According to the Prosecution, Ramagem, who headed the Brazilian Agency of Intelligence during the Bolsonaro Administration (2019-2022), set up a parallel secret service to monitor political opponents. Last September, in the days when the trial for the attempted coup in Brazil was concluding, he fled clandestinely from the state of Roraima, bordering Venezuela, entered Guyana by land and headed for the United States, according to the local press.