Aechmea blanchetiana maybe? The leaves though are so pointed unlike the rounded tipped leaves I see on the web of the species.

I don't think it's A. blanchetiana

A list of Bromeliads of Brazil: http://bromeliad.nl/encycloped...

Bloom photo, A. leptantha:
http://bromeliad.nl/encycloped...

I wonder if it could be Aechmea leptantha?

Thanks lin, A.leptantha is not listed in the Flora do Brasil for the region, nor is A. blanchetiana.
There are 32 Aechmea sps in the Rio de Janeiro state.
http://floradobrasil.jbrj.gov....
I searched all of them, many of which I couldn't find any documentation of.
Not even sure now it is an Aechmea sp.
The Atlantic Forest is literally crowded with Bromeliads everywhere you look, kind of frustrating I even have not a basic knowledge of that huge family.

My eyes aren't the best at comparing photos; first I thought Aechmea, then I thought the leaves and bloom spike looked like Alcantarea lurida or Alcantarea nigripetala as shown on this page: http://fcbs.org/cgi-bin/dbman/... but I just can't seem to find an exact match.

Thanks Lin, I didn't find a match either in the Alcantarea genus..