Prosecutors in Rio de Janeiro requested the preventive detention of Agostina Páez, the Argentine lawyer accused of making racial slurs while vacationing in Brazil. A judge approved the request, and the authorities took Páez into custody. They released her a few hours later.
Police arrested the 29‑year‑old in mid‑January after an incident at a bar in Rio de Janeiro’s Ipanema neighborhood. Páez allegedly hurled racist insults at staff during a dispute over the bill. Witnesses say she also made monkey sounds and gestures, an act that is an arrestable offense in Brazil. Restaurant employees called the police, and officers took the woman into custody.
Officials charged Páez with “injúria racial,” which roughly translates to “racial slur.” Brazilian law treats racial insults as serious crimes that can result in sentences of up to five years in prison. The prosecutors’ Office confiscated Páez’s passport, required her to wear an ankle monitor, and argued that the measures weren’t enough.
“Although precautionary measures other than imprisonment have been imposed, including electronic monitoring, these measures have not proven sufficient to neutralize the existing procedural danger,” said the Rio de Janeiro Public Prosecutor’s Office in a statement obtained by Brazilian News outlet UOL.
The Apolo Foundation filed a petition on Páez’s behalf seeking to lift the travel ban, which would allow the defendant to return to Argentina to await trial. The legal team claims that Páez poses no flight risk and that prosecutors imposed disproportionately harsh measures on her.
“Her rights are being violated, and Brazil is in breach of several international treaties ratified by both Argentina and Brazil,” said Fundación Apolo attorney Nicolás Silvera, accusing the police of using her to “make an example.”
The Brazilian Public Prosecutor’s Office argues that a person accompanying Páez allegedly tried to stop her from making the profane gestures, which, according to the prosecution, showed that she understood the seriousness of the crime.
The incident sparked a social media debate, with some supporting the country’s strict laws and others downplaying the crime.
– Be Agostina Páez 🇦🇷
– Spend years studying international law
– Become a lawyer in Argentina
– Travel to Brazil on vacation
– Ignore local laws & get arrested for racism
– Passport seized & given ankle monitor
– Cry on the internet because you face 5 years in a Brazilian jail pic.twitter.com/HFZNbz0UFh
— BowTiedPassport (@BowTiedPassport) February 17, 2026
“Love it when people learn the hard way, it won’t stop her from being racist, but it would definitely stop her from keeping her depravity to herself,” one X user wrote.
“Arrested for racism? Don’t they have more serious issues in Brazil, like extreme poverty?” a commentator wrote.
Following her release, Páez resumed her previous arrangement, which requires her to remain in Brazil and wear an ankle monitor. Brazilian officials have not yet set a trial date.
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