Bolsonaro, Jair << jy EER >> (1955-…), was the president of Brazil from 2019 through 2022. He succeeded President Michel Temer. Bolsonaro is a former military officer. He also served for many years as a lawmaker in Brazil’s Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of the National Congress. As president, Bolsonaro promoted conservative policies and values.
Jair Messias Bolsonaro was born on March 21, 1955, in Campinas, a city in southern São Paulo state, Brazil. He graduated from the Military Academy of Agulhas Negras in 1977 and then served in the Brazilian army until 1988. In 1983, Bolsonaro received a degree in physical education from the Army School of Physical Education.
Bolsonaro began his political career in 1988, when he was elected to the Rio de Janeiro city council. He served as a councilman from 1989 to 1991. In 1990, he was elected to Brazil’s Chamber of Deputies, where he served as a lawmaker from 1991 to 2019. Bolsonaro changed political parties many times during his years as a lawmaker. In Brazil’s 2018 presidential election, he ran as a candidate of the far-right Social Liberal Party (PSL). He won the election and took office on Jan. 1, 2019. Bolsonaro was elected amidst a wide-reaching government corruption scandal. His victory also followed years of economic recession (decline in business activity) and high rates of violent crime and unemployment.
As a politician, Bolsonaro has opposed abortion, affirmative action, decriminalization of illegal drugs, environmental protections, gun-control legislation, immigration, Indigenous rights, and same-sex marriage. As president, he faced strong criticism for his environmental policies. His opponents claimed that the policies led to accelerated destruction of the Amazon rain forest. During the global outbreak of the disease COVID-19 that began in 2020, Bolsonaro drew strong criticism for downplaying the threat of COVID-19 and for undermining efforts to contain it.
Bolsonaro lost Brazil’s 2022 presidential election to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. In 2023, Brazil’s Superior Electoral Court found Bolsonaro guilty of abusing his power by casting baseless doubts on the nation’s electronic voting system. The court barred Bolsonaro from public office for eight years.
