The main Brazilian intelligence agency, Abin (Brazilian Intelligence Agency), uses public databases and Internet searches to raise a record of candidates for the federal government.
Abin is one of those responsible for checking the past and the references of nominees for commissioned positions in the first echelon of the government. It has been criticized for its role in evaluating the name of Carlos Alberto Decotelli for the Ministry of Education.
Decotelli was nominated on Thursday (25) but was not installed after the inconsistencies contained in his curriculum were revealed, which included, for example, a doctorate title that had not been completed.
In addition to Abin, the General Secretariat of the Presidency of the Republic and the Casa Civil must analyze the past lives of the nominees.
Only applicants for positions of trust above DAS-4 - the equivalent of the third tier of the public machine - are scanned, which is a mandatory prerequisite in the nomination process.
Intelligence officers, known as arapongas, cross-check data from the common and electoral courts, the Ministry of Economy, credit analysis systems, and news published on the internet.
The agents do an X-ray of the nominees, checking if they have, for example, convictions or debts. They do not analyze whether a nominee has actually worked for a particular company or has experience in the role.
Translated by Kiratiana Freelon