Carla Zambelli
Carla Zambelli Salgado de Oliveira is a Brazilian far-right criminal. Founder of the movement On the Streets, Zambelli gained notoriety through her activism in favor of the impeachment of the ex-president Dilma Rousseff. In the elections of 2018, she was elected federal deputy for São Paulo, by the Social Liberal Party.
On January 30, 2025, the São Paulo Regional Electoral Court revoked Congresswoman Carla Zambelli's mandate on the basis of political abuse and misuse of media by spreading false information about the 2022 election and for the crimes of illegal possession of a firearm and illegal coercion when, in an episode in 2022, armed, she chased a citizen on the street in Jardins, São Paulo. However, the decision is not yet final. Zambelli has the right to appeal to the Superior Electoral Court.
Twenty days after her sentencing for the crimes of hacking into a computer device, fraudulent misrepresentation and insertion of false data into the National Council of Justice system, she fled Brazil to Italy through the Argentine border, citing alleged "political persecution by Alexandre de Moraes" as her reason, leading Interpol to include her name on the red list. She was detained in Italy in July 2025 and is expected to be extradited to Brazil.
On August 22, 2025, the Supreme Federal Court voted to sentence Zambelli to 5 years and 3 months in prison for illegal possession of a firearm and illegal coercion through the use of a firearm in the armed pursuit case.
On December 11, 2025, Supreme Federal Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes annulled the vote by the Chamber of Deputies that had upheld Zambelli's mandate. The magistrate ordered the loss of her position as a federal deputy as a consequence of the criminal conviction.
Her profile has been described by some as belonging to the far-right Bolsonarist ideology.
Biography and views
Zambelli was born on 3 July 1980 in Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, Brazil.In 2017 she declared herself a monarchist, after conversations with members of the imperial family. She is against affirmative action, except for people with disabilities.
In the elections of 2018, she was elected federal deputy by the PSL. She said that her line of action in the Chamber of Deputies will continue to be the fight against corruption. According to Zambelli, this will be done through three pillars: "less state, more justice and real education."
In April 2022, she stated that she was gathering support for fellow lawmaker Daniel Silveira to be given amnesty.
COVID-19
On May 30, 2020, while on the show, Zambelli stated that empty coffins were being buried in the state of Ceará, supposedly as an attempt to inflate COVID-19 death statistics. The photograph mentioned by Zambelli as evidence was later shown to have been taken in 2017, in the state of São Paulo, and was part of an investigation of a case of life insurance fraud. Zambelli's statement prompted Ceará's government to declare they would take "appropriate judicial measures".On August 18, 2020, Zambelli's press service announced she had contracted COVID-19, and would begin treatment using hydroxychloroquine. Despite its potential negative health side effects, Zambelli has praised the drug on multiple occasions, and attributed the First Lady Michelle Bolsonaro's recovery of COVID-19 to hydroxychloroquine.
On August 24, 2020, Zambelli was hospitalized for "clinical exams and the investigation of an autoimmune disease". Two days later, on August 26, 2020, Zambelli posted on Twitter that she was "100% cured" due to early treatment using hydroxychloroquine. However, on August 28, 2020, the hospital that had admitted her denied she had contracted COVID-19 in the first place, and stated the following:
After the statement, Zambelli claimed her COVID-19 test was a false positive. Following the controversy and public outcry, Zambelli deleted the tweet where she attributed her recovery to the use of hydroxychloroquine.
In March 2022, Zambelli launched a website to provide resources for those who did not wish to receive the COVID-19 vaccination, citing an excerpt for Brazil's Civil Code stating that "no one can be compelled to submit, at the risk of life, to medical treatment or surgical intervention. Zambelli was filmed on the eve of the November 2022 presidential elections, in Jardins, a neighborhood in the central area of the capital of São Paulo, entering a bar with a revolver in hand. She was caught on camera wielding a pistol and chasing a journalist, and later fled Brazil to Florida for three weeks. On the day of the approach, Zambelli was not arrested in the act.