Lula asks US to send ex-intelligence chief to Brazil after ICE arrest

Brazil’s president says he expects Alexandre Ramagem to be returned to Brazil to serve prison sentence after being detained in US.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has asked that the United States send former intelligence chief Alexandre Ramagem back to Brazil so that he can serve a prison sentence for his involvement in a coup plot.

Lula expressed optimism that Ramagem would be returned to Brazil during an interview on Tuesday, one day after he was detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the state of Florida.

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“I believe Ramagem will come back to Brazil; he has to come back to serve his sentence,” Lula said in an interview with a local news outlet.

The ex-intelligence chief fled Brazil in September after being sentenced to 16 years in prison for his involvement in a coup plot in support of former right-wing president Jair Bolsonaro following his loss to Lula in the 2022 election.

Brazil has previously requested Ramagem’s extradition, and the Brazilian news outlet Folha de S Paulo reported that Lula attributed his arrest to his conviction in Brazil.

Political allies of Bolsonaro had downplayed Ramagem’s detention by ICE on Monday, depicting it as the result of a routine traffic stop and expressing optimism that he would be released.

Ramagem has also faced allegations of spying on Bolsonaro’s political rivals in his capacity as former head of the Agencia Brasileira de Inteligencia (ABIN), Brazil’s top intelligence agency.

The coup plot allegedly included plans to have Lula killed, and Bolsonaro himself is currently serving a 27-year sentence in Brazil following a trial that attracted the ire of US President Donald Trump, who has depicted his Brazilian ally as the victim of a “witch hunt”.

Trump previously sanctioned members of the Brazilian judiciary involved in the case and imposed heavy tariffs on the South American country, demanding that the case against Bolsonaro be dropped.

Relations have since improved, with Trump easing some tariffs and building a more cordial relationship with the left-wing Lula.

The US and Brazil recently announced a joint effort to crack down on drug and weapons shipments.