Bolsonaro Allies Use Cardboard Cutouts of Absent Couple at Rio Rally

At a rally in Rio de Janeiro on Saturday, supporters of the Liberal Party (PL) used cardboard cutouts of Alexandre and Rebeca Ramagem to represent the couple, who were not present. The event, held at the Maracanãzinho arena, marked the official launch of Flávio Bolsonaro’s presidential candidacy and the naming of Douglas Ruas as the PL’s nominee for governor of Rio de Janeiro.

Alexandre Ramagem, former director of Brazil’s intelligence agency (ABIN), was convicted for his role in the January 8, 2023 coup plot and sentenced to 16 years in prison. After the verdict, he fled Brazil clandestinely via Guyana to Miami, where he lives with Rebeca and their daughters under a diplomatic passport. Rebeca Ramagem, a prosecutor from the state of Roraima, has been on extended leave since his departure and is campaigning for a federal deputy seat from the United States.

Event imagery and social media

The cutouts appeared alongside Fernanda Bolsonaro, wife of Flávio Bolsonaro, and other PL candidates such as Rogério Pires Amorim, who is running for a state deputy seat. Rebeca Ramagem shared the images on her Instagram profile, thanking Fernanda Bolsonaro and writing, "We remain together, with courage, faith and hard work. Rio de Janeiro and Brazil can count on us!"

Campaign from abroad

Since moving to the United States at the end of 2025, Rebeca Ramagem’s campaign has been conducted remotely. She has reposted videos of her husband and appears in recordings discussing her experience as a police officer, diplomatic tensions between Brazil and the United States, and crime‑fighting policies. In a recent post, after formally launching her candidacy, she wrote, "My husband cannot be in this dispute. But I can."

She also noted that, as a state servant, she has accumulated vacation time, extensions and licenses, surpassing seven months without working, and requested another license in July to run for office.

Legal context

Other high‑profile figures convicted in the same core plot — including former president Jair Bolsonaro, generals Augusto Heleno and Walter Braga Netto, admiral Álvaro Garnier and former justice minister Anderson Torres — remain incarcerated in Brazil and have not fled. The Federal Police discovered Alexandre Ramagem’s escape while checking the whereabouts of those convicted.