See Jair Bolsonaro’s personal and political trajectory – 06/30/2023 – Politics

Jair Bolsonaro (PL), former deputy and retired army captain, contested the 2022 elections in search of becoming the fourth president to be re-elected since redemocratization. Instead, he was the first ex-president not to be re-elected, in a dispute that crowned Lula (PT) for his third term.

Now, the politician has eight years of ineligibility ahead of him, and may return to the race in 2030 .

This Friday, the TSE formed a majority to make Bolsonaro ineligible until 2030, when he will be 75 years old.

See the main moments of Bolsonaro’s life and political career.

birth and childhood

Bolsonaro was born in 1955 in the city of Glicério, in the interior of São Paulo, into a family of Italian and German immigrants. He is the third child of six. As a child, he lived in several municipalities in São Paulo, such as Ribeira, Sete Barras and Eldorado, where he grew up.

Military Career

Bolsonaro entered the Preparatory School for Army Cadets at 17 and then entered the Aman (Military Academy of Agulhas Negras), graduating in 1977 and joining the parachuting sector of the corporation.

Prison

When he was part of the Army, Bolsonaro was jailed for 15 days for writing an article in Veja magazine in which he complained about the salary conditions of the military, which he said were precarious. The text even generated a demonstration in front of the military complex at Praia Vermelha, in Rio de Janeiro. Two years later, the STM (Superior Military Court) acquitted him.

Pump and trip to the reserve

In 1987, Veja published that Bolsonaro and another official planned to detonate time bombs in military units in Rio de Janeiro, with sketches of the plan attributed to the former president. He was unanimously condemned by the CJM (Council of Military Justification), but appealed to the STM, and was then acquitted.

With the case, he decided to go to the reserve and start his political career, running for the seat of councilor.

Politics and election for councilor

Bolsonaro entered public life with the successful candidacy for councilor of Rio de Janeiro by the former PDC (Christian Democratic Party). Taking office in 1989, he introduced seven bills, all related to military causes. He left office in 1991 to become a federal deputy.

Congressman

Elected federal deputy in 1990, Bolsonaro took office the following year, still for the PDC. He remained in office for seven terms, accounting for 28 years in the Legislature. He ran for mayor in 2005, 2011 and 2017, losing each time.

Political parties

In addition to the PDC, the party for which he was elected councilor and federal deputy for the first time, Bolsonaro was affiliated with many other acronyms throughout his career: PPR, PPB —which later became the PP, of which he was also a member—, PTB , PFL —which later became DEM and today is União Brasil—, PSC, PSL and PL.

He tried to create a party, which would be called Aliança pelo Brasil, but he did not get the necessary number of signatures to formalize the creation of the party.

Relationship with military dictatorship

Bolsonaro has already stated in several interviews that he is in favor of the dictatorship that ruled Brazil between 1964 and 1985. He has also stated that he considers the coup that brought the military to power a “revolution”.

Antipetismo and candidacy for the Presidency

Faced with the growing rejection of the PT and the popularity of Operation Lava Jato, Bolsonaro decides to run for president in 2016.

Knife and near death

On September 6, 2018, he was stabbed during an act in Juiz de Fora, in the interior of Minas Gerais. He was hit in the abdomen and required three surgeries. The author of the crime, Adélio Bispo de Oliveira, was arrested and acquitted because he was considered unaccountable due to psychological problems.

2018 and Presidency

Bolsonaro received 46% of the votes in the first round, coming in first place in the second round against Fernando Haddad (PT), who gathered 29.28% of the votes. The second round did not have any debate between the two candidates due to the recovery of the federal deputy after the stabbing episode.

He was elected with 55.13% of the valid votes, against 44.87% for the former mayor of São Paulo.

Covid pandemic

Bolsonaro’s management during the coronavirus pandemic was widely criticized, with the president taking a stand against social isolation, recommending the use of chloroquine, a drug with no proven efficacy against Covid-19, and delaying the purchase of vaccines.

Frictions with the Judiciary

Bolsonaro’s term was also marked by friction between the Chief Executive and the Judiciary, especially the STF and Minister Alexandre de Moraes. He has already called the magistrate a “tramp” and threatened not to comply with court decisions.

Defeat in the 2022 election

The electoral dispute made Bolsonaro the first former Brazilian president to fail to be re-elected. He reached 49.1% of the valid votes and lost the second round of the dispute, won by Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), with 50.9%. This was the smallest difference in Brazilian history since redemocratization in 1985.

Escape to USA

In the weeks that followed his electoral defeat, the verbose president gave way to a reclusive and quiet Bolsonaro. His silence had an effect on the radicalized base, which gathered in front of barracks to ask for military intervention. On December 30, he flew to the United States on a FAB (Brazilian Air Force) plane, disregarding the democratic rite of passing the sash to the new president.

Bolsonaro and coup

On January 8, coup demonstrators carried out acts of vandalism in Brasília and clashed with the PM. From the US, Bolsonaro published that depredations and invasions of public buildings are outside the rule of democracy, and that during his term he was “within the four lines of the Constitution”.

He is investigated in a PF inquiry that targets the intellectual authors of the coup attempt for having made a series of statements that incited the coup during his term, in addition to later criticizing the arrest of the invaders of Brasília.

Ineligibility and political uncertainty

Bolsonaro was declared ineligible by the TSE in June 2023, held responsible for abuse of political power and misuse of the media during a meeting with foreign ambassadors at the Palácio do Alvorada in 2022. The action resulted in eight years of ineligibility.

For the current legislation, Bolsonaro will be able to run again in the elections of 2030, at the age of 75. He should act as an electoral cable in the next elections, indicating a successor in 2026.