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Jair Bolsonaro, the controversial former president out of action for now

Jair Bolsonaro, the controversial former president out of action for now

After governing Brazil with a provocative style and a host of scandals, the far-right Jair Bolsonaro was left out of political combat when he was disqualified by the justicealthough he has no intention of moving away from almost half of the Brazilians who voted for him a few months ago.

This 68-year-old former Army captain was declared ineligible this Friday for eight years for attacks against the electronic ballot box electoral system before losing the elections to his nemesis, the veteran leftist Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

“I will not despair”to be sentenced “I will continue to do my part”Bolsonaro said days before the verdict, convinced of the need for his role at the head of the Brazilian right.

Since he returned from a three-month stay in the United States on March 30, the former president has been active behind the scenes of politics, holding meetings with his Liberal Party, the majority in Congress.

His tenure (2019-2022) was marked by scandals and crises, from his government’s management of the covid-19 pandemic to his accusations without evidence of electoral fraud.

“Tropical Trump”

Known for his provocative and divisive style that earned him the nickname of Trump tropical”Bolsonaro burst onto the national stage as a presidential candidate in 2018.

With a seductive anti-corruption speech and “outsider”captivated many Brazilians during the campaign, fed up with traditional parties peppered with controversy.

He survived a knife attack during an electoral act and that only increased the faith of his supporters in his “Messiah”, or Messiah, second name of Bolsonaro.

This man with blue eyes and simple syntax ignited the fervor of right-wingers with his attacks on communism, gender ideology and political correctness.

And he had the support of the influential ‘lobbies’ of arms, agribusiness and the vast evangelical electorate.

His critics, on the other hand, accused him of racism, sexism, and homophobia.

It was especially eroded by his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, which in Brazil left 700,000 dead, only below the United States in absolute numbers.

Bolsonaro downplayed covid-19, challenged scientific data to combat it, mocked the use of masks and warned that vaccines could turn people into crocodiles.

Internationally, he was criticized for deforestation in the Amazon, which increased by more than 70% during his tenure compared to the annual average of the previous decade.

Disappeared from the networks

The controversies continued into the last days of his presidency and after.

After narrowly losing the election, Bolsonaro refused to congratulate his adversary or openly admit defeat. He fell into unprecedented silence, even on his social media, where he had been hyperactive.

He traveled to the United States two days before the end of his term and did not attend Lula’s inauguration on January 1.

A week later, thousands of Bolsonaro supporters invaded and vandalized the presidential palace, the Congress and the seat of the supreme court, in a failed attempt to overthrow Lula.

Upon his return to Brazil, the former president faces five processes before the highest court that could send him to prison. The most recent investigates whether he instigated the riot on January 8.

He is also under investigation by police and tax authorities for allegedly trying to illegally import millions of dollars worth of jewelry that he and his wife, Michelle, received from Saudi Arabia.

Insubordination

Born in 1955 in Campinas, near Sao Paulo, into a family of Italian origin, Jair Messias Bolsonaro followed a military career marked by bouts of insubordination.

Openly nostalgic for the last military dictatorship (1964-1985), he began his political career as a Rio de Janeiro city councilor in 1988. Two years later he was elected to the Chamber of Deputies, where he remained until he became president.

Already at the beginning of his political career he became known above all for his explosive controversies.

In 2011, she told Playboy magazine that she would rather have a child. “killed in an accident” what a homosexual

And in 2014, he caused a scandal by declaring that a leftist deputy “did not deserve” be raped for being “too ugly”.

Married three times, this defender of the family who defines himself as a Catholic has four sons -three of them politicians-, and a daughter, procreated, according to himself, at a time of “weakness”.

Source: AFP

Source: Gestion

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