Jair Messias Bolsonaro

Background

Ethnicity: His family is mostly of Italian descent, with some German ancestry.

Bolsonaro was born on 21 March 1955 in the town of Glicério, in São Paulo, in the southeast region of Brazil, to Percy Geraldo Bolsonaro and Olinda Bonturi.

On his father's side, he is the great-grandson of Italians from Veneto and Calabria. Bolsonaro's paternal grandfather's family comes from Veneto, more precisely the city of Anguillara Veneta, in the province of Padua. His great-grandfather, Vittorio Bolzonaro (the surname was originally written with a Z), was born on 12 April 1878. Vittorio's parents immigrated to Brazil when he was ten, together with his little siblings, Giovanna and Tranquillo. His German ancestry came from his father's maternal grandfather, Carl "Carlos" Hintze, born in Hamburg around 1876, who immigrated to Brazil in 1883. His maternal grandparents were born in the Italian city of Lucca, in Tuscany, and went to live in Brazil in the 1890s.

Jair Bolsonaro spent most of his childhood moving around São Paulo with his family, living in the cities of Ribeira, Jundiaí, and Sete Barras, before settling in the town of Eldorado, in the south region of the state, in 1966, where he would grown up together with his 5 brothers.

Education

Bolsonaro graduated from the Agulhas Negras Military Academy in 1977 and served in the Brazilian Army's field artillery and parachutist groups.

Career

He became known to the public in 1986, when he penned an article for Veja magazine criticizing low wages for military officials, after which he was arrested and detained for fifteen days; he was acquitted two years later.

Despite being reprimanded by his superiors, Bolsonaro received praise from fellow officers and wives of military men, becoming a household name for a lot of hardliners and right-wingers who were growing disenchanted with Brazil's new civilian democratic government. Bolsonaro served in the military for seventeen years, reaching the rank of Captain.

In 1988, after joining the military reserve, Jair Bolsonaro launched his political career under the ticket of the Christian Democratic Party (PDC) and was elected city councilor in Rio de Janeiro. He remained on that post till February 1st, 1991, when he assumed office as the Federal Deputy of the second largest economic state of Brazil.

He was the Chamber of Deputies Vice Leader for PDC and fought for the party in the 1990 elections. Upon being elected as a federal congressman, he served first term in office from February 1991 to February 1995 and was re-elected for six consecutive terms.

In 1993, he switched support to the newly founded Progressive Party (PP), which later merged with the Reform Progressive Party (RPP) in 1995 to form the Brazilian Progressive Party (PPB). That year, he was re-elected for the post under the flag of RPP and assumed office for his second term on February 1st, 1995.

He was re-elected twice more in the same post under the banner of PPB, in 1999 and 2003, but was affiliated with the Brazilian Labour Party (PTB) from 2003 to 2005.

In 2005, he briefly joined the Liberal Front Party (PFL), the primary right-wing party in Brazilian politics.

He returned to Brazilian Progressive Party (PPB) in 2005 after it reverted back to its previous name Progressive Party (PP) in 2003. He was elected twice more as a federal congressman in 2007 and 2011, and remained with the party till 2016.

He became a member of the Social Christian Party (PSC) in 2016 and announced his intention to run for the presidency in March that year. However, he eventually moved to the Social Liberal Party in August 2018 and launched his presidential campaign for the party, taking retired general Hamilton Mourão as his running mate.

During the first round of the general election on October 7, 2018, he secured 46.03% votes to become the top candidate with a clear lead over opponent Fernando Haddad, who came second with 29.28% votes. He will face the former São Paulo mayor Haddad in the run-off elections on October 28, 2018.

Achievements

• Jair Bolsonaro is a politician who has served six consecutive terms as the Federal Deputy for Rio de Janeiro and represented the state at the Chamber of Deputies for 27 years.

Religion

Bolsonaro is a member of the Catholic Church, while his wife and a son of his are Evangelical Christian. He is reported to have attended a Baptist church for 10 years. In a 2017 speech, Bolsonaro stated, "God above everything. There is no such thing as this secular state. The state is Christian and the minority will have to change if they can." He later evolved his position to maintain the country a secular state during the first round of the Brazilian presidential elections: "We are going to make a government for everyone, regardless of religion. Even for atheists. We have almost 5% of atheists in Brazil, and you have the same needs that others have."

Politics

A far-right politician with nationalist and populist views, Jair Bolsonaro has been criticized throughout his career for his strong opposition to left-wing policies. Described as a traditional right-wing conservationist by his supporters, he is vehemently opposed to same-sex marriage, abortion, immigration, affirmative action, drug liberalization, land reforms, and secularism.

He believes that women should receive less salary because of the possibility of getting pregnant, and wants to introduce law mandating that paid maternity leave harms work productivity. For his remark that politician Maria do Rosário was "not worthy of being raped", he was fined in court for potentially inciting rape and defaming the honor of his fellow Deputy.

In an interview with the 'Playboy' magazine, he had said that he would not be able to love a gay son and would rather prefer that his son dies in an accident. At different times, he has promised to fight the distribution of gay kits proposed by UNESCO, linked homosexuality to pedophilia, publicly defended beating gay children, and was fined for televised homophobic comments.

He has publicly glorified the Brazilian military dictatorship from 1964 to 1985 several times during his career. He even went on to state on TV that he himself would instigate a military coup if he ever became President.

He feels that the poor lack the education to do proper family planning and should be sterilized.

Views

Brazil has the world's largest tropical rainforest in the Amazon basin. According to The Washington Post, "Bolsonaro is a powerful supporter of agribusiness... and is likely to favor profits over preservation. ... Bolsonaro has chafed at foreign pressure to safeguard [the Amazon rainforest], and he served notice to international nonprofit groups such as the World Wildlife Fund that he will not tolerate their agendas in Brazil. He has also come out strongly against lands reserved for indigenous tribes. Bolsonaro advisers additionally say that he plans to expand nuclear and hydroelectric power into the Amazon."

Quotations: He said that he would "be incapable of loving a homosexual son" and would "rather let his child die in an accident than be gay" according to a 2011 Playboy interview. He also claimed that "We Brazilians don't like homosexuals."

He said, "I don’t run the risk" of having children who are gay or date black women because "My children were very well raised."

Bolsonaro said twice to the Brazilian human rights minister, Maria do Rosário, "I will not rape you because you do not deserve it".

"An adolescent can rape and kill 200 people and he is still not treated like a criminal in Brazil. Most minors know that if they are going to commit a robbery, it is better to kill the victim as there is less chance of being caught, and if they are, the punishment will be the same." - Bolsonaro advocates lowering the age of criminal responsibility.

"I support a dictatorship. We will never resolve serious national problems with this irresponsible democracy." - Bolsonaro in 1993.

He accused the openly gay, left-wing politician Jean Wyllys of "heterophobia" when Wyllys refused to sit next to him on a plane.

"The lightest man of African descent" in a community of descendants of former slaves "weighed 7 arrobas," a unit used in Brazil mostly by cattle traders, corresponding roughly to 15 kg or 33 lbs. "They don't do anything. I think that he is not usable even as a breeder. More than R$ 1 billion are spent yearly on them."

"Have you ever seen a Japanese person begging? They are a race with self-respect!"

"I have five children. Four are men. The last time I did it weakly and the result was a woman."

Membership

He has served as a member of the Chamber of Deputies, representing the state of Rio de Janeiro, since 1991. He is a member of the Social Liberal Party (PSL) and will assume office for his four-year term as president on 1 January 2019, succeeding Michel Temer.

Bolsonaro announced his pre-candidacy for president in March 2016 as a member of the Social Christian Party.

He had been a member of the Socialism and Liberty Party between 2007 and 2014. His social media posts included political criticisms against both Bolsonaro and Temer.

A member of the right-wing grouping in the Brazilian Congress informally known as the Bullets, Beef and Bible Caucus, he has been labeled the "tropical Trump" and has been compared to other such wonderful figures as the Philippines' Rodrigo Duterte and Egypt's Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. His son Eduardo is also a congress member with similarly cuddly politics.

• Socialism and Liberty Party

  2007 - 2014

Connections

Jair Bolsonaro's first marriage was to Rogéria Nantes Braga, with whom he has three sons named Flávio, Carlos and Eduardo. Both Flávio and Eduardo are lawyers and politicians.

After getting divorced from his first wife, he again married a woman named Ana Cristina, who is the mother of his fourth son, Renan.

In 2013, he married Michelle de Paula Firmo Reinaldo Bolsonaro, who gave birth to his only daughter Laura who, according to Bolsonaro, was produced out of "a moment of weakness".

He had hired his current wife as his secretary during his tenure as a congressman, following which she climbed up the ladder very quickly and gained several promotions, as well as pay raise. However, a couple years later, he had to fire her after a Supreme Federal Court ruling that declared nepotism to be illegal in the public administration.

Spouse:

Michelle Reinaldo

(m. 2013)

ex-spouse:

Rogéria Nantes Braga

ex-spouse:

Ana Cristina Valle

Son:

Eduardo Bolsonaro

Son:

Flávio Bolsonaro

Son:

Carlos Bolsonaro

Son:

Renan Bolsonaro

Daughter:

Laura Bolsonaro

References

• Mito ou verdade Jair Messias Bolsonaro (Em Portugues do Brasil) Se você quer conhecer o verdadeiro Jair Bolsonaro, adquira o livro Mito ou Verdade.O Jair Messias Bolsonaro, filho, pai, militar, politico, amigo, gente como a gente. O Bolsonaro, visto pelos olhos do filho.É impossível ler este livro sem ter a certeza de que e possível acreditar no Brasil que você sempre sonhou.
• JAIR BOLSONARO ou l'envie de puissance bresilienne: ELECTIONS PRESIDENTIELLES AU BRESIL 2018 (French Edition) - Kindle edition by BENDAOUD OMAR. Politics & Social Sciences Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com. Le Brésil élit son prochain Président en octobre 2018 dans un contexte de crise politique, économique, sécuritaire et institutionnelle sans précédent. L’incarcération de l’ancien Président Lula DA SILVA, condamné à 12 années de prison suite à l’un des nombreux scandales de corruption qui ont secoué le pays, laisse le champ libre à la candidature de Jair BOLSONARO. Député Fédéral connu pour ses outrances verbales et son patriotisme, il est désormais en tête des sondages d’opinion. ‘‘TRUMP Brésilien’’ pour de nombreux médias, peu recommandable ou ‘‘fasciste’’ pour d’autres, il pourrait en réalité être le champion d’une certaine idée de la souveraineté économique brésilienne. Cette étude se propose de se pencher sur la nature et l’historique de la stratégie de puissance du Brésil, profondément influencée par la doctrine militaire d’une part, et une relation compliquée avec les Etats-Unis sur le sujet du leadership régional d’autre part. Elle examine ensuite pus en détail les idées, proposions et ambiguïtés du candidat BOLSONARO.
• Bolsonaro: Os mitos em torno do Mito: Ensaios sobre Jair Bolsonaro e a confusão das massas (Portuguese Edition) - Kindle edition by Matheus Mattos. Politics & Social Sciences Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com. Este pequeno livro visa ajudar os que defendem Jair Bolsonaro, mas não entendem bem o porquê de estarem sendo tão atacados. É um conjunto de pequenos ensaios para abrir a mente para as possibilidades presentes nesta situação tão complicada que vivemos.