Bolsonaro’s ‘parallel intelligence agency’ still poses a risk to Lula

During a now-infamous cabinet meeting in April 2020 (which was recorded and later made public), former President Jair Bolsonaro expressed frustration at his inability to get information from the police. The two-hour video of the meeting was released that year as part of an inquiry into allegations that the former president was trying to tamper with a criminal investigation into his son — as alleged by his former justice minister, Sergio Moro, who had resigned days after the meeting.

In an expletive-laden tirade, Mr. Bolsonaro said he had his own private intelligence apparatus. “Information systems? My own one works,” said the president, on tape. “Those that exist officially, misinform.”

The more we learn about the nuts and bolts of the Jair Bolsonaro administration (2019-2022), the clearer it becomes that the former far-right leader’s words were not mere bluster.

Revelations by newspaper O Globo show that Brazilian intelligence agency Abin secretly used Israeli software that allowed it to track the location of up to 10,000 people in Brazil at a time. The software was used between 2019 and 2021, despite the agency having no legal authorization to access private information of citizens.

The software cost BRL 5.7 million (USD 1 million), and was not put...