Bolsonaro, Jair Messias

Bolsonaro, Jair Messias,

1955–, Brazilian political leader. Bolsonaro served in the army from 1973 to 1988, mostly during a period of military dictatorship; he rose to the rank of captain. Running as a Christian Democrat, he was elected to Rio de Janeiro's city council (1989–91) and Brazil's chamber of deputies (1991–2018). A social and economic conservative, he subsequently several times shifted his party affiliation, joining the Social Liberal party (PSL) in 2018. He became known for expressing admiration for military rule and for inflammatory remarks about women, blacks, and gays. In 2018, running for president in the wake of a severe recession, a rising crime rate, and a series of government corruption scandals and surviving an assassination attempt, he defeated Fernando Haddad of the Workers' party after a runoff.