Jair Bolsonaro: From Paratrooper to Brazilian President

Created: 08/25/2022, 11:59 am

By: Nail Akkoyun

Jair Bolsonaro has been President of Brazil since January 1, 2019.

But the right-wing populist ex-military could soon lose the office.

1 / 13Jair Bolsonaro does not spend his childhood and youth in half of Brazil, unlike his namesake, but grows up with five siblings – three sisters and two brothers – in different parts of São Paulo.

The family finally settles down in Eldorado, in the south of the metropolis.

There, Jair Bolsonaro attended the state scientific school "Eldorado Paulista".

In his spare time, young Jair likes to shoot birds with a shotgun and earn a little pocket money by fishing.

© Geff Reis/Imago

2 / 13Before graduating from school, Jair Bolsonaro was admitted to the Escola Preparatória de Cadetes do Exército cadet school in his hometown, which he joined in 1973.

A year later he switched to the Academia Militar das Agulhas Negras, the main academy of the Brazilian military, which Bolsonaro graduated in 1977 as a lieutenant in artillery.

In the years that followed, he was used by the Brazilian army as a paratrooper, among other things.

© Nelson Almeida/AFP

3 / 13Jair Bolsonaro is described by his superiors as "aggressive" and "overly ambitious" - he primarily tried to gain financial and economic advantages.

The allegations are related, among other things, to Bolsonaro's attempt to mine gold in the Brazilian state of Bahia during his military career.

However, according to him, it was just a hobby.

© Apu Gomes/AFP

4 / 13Jair Bolsonaro first came to public attention in 1986 when he gave an interview to the news magazine Veja.

In it he complained about the low military salaries and claimed that the high command was firing officers because of budget cuts.

While being disciplined by his superiors, Bolsonaro is receiving praise from fellow officers and is slowly but surely becoming a household name on the far-right scene unhappy with Brazil's new democratic government.

© Daniel Ramalho/AFP

5 / 13A year later, Jair Bolsonaro faces serious allegations when Veja reports that he and an army colleague planned to plant bombs in military units in Rio de Janeiro.

Bolsonaro initially called the claims "a pipe dream," but the magazine subsequently published detailed sketches and documents linking him to plans for mutiny.

Ultimately, however, the captain was acquitted by the military court due to "profound contradictions".

In December 1988, shortly after the verdict, Bolsonaro left the army after 15 years of military service to devote himself to his political career.

© Douglas Magno/AFP

6 / 131989 Jair Bolsonaro is elected to the Rio de Janeiro City Council as a representative of the Christian Democratic Party (PDC).

According to his son Flávio's biography, his father only ran for office "because it was the only option [...] to avoid persecution by some superiors".

In his two years in the municipal chamber, the future president is described as quiet and conservative.

He contributes very little to the meetings and hardly talks about himself.

© Evaristo Sa/AFP

7 / 13In the 1990 elections, Jair Bolsonaro is elected MP for the Christian Democratic Party (PDC).

From 1991 to 2018 he served seven consecutive terms, albeit as a member of different parties.

In 28 years he has changed party affiliations eight times, the longest being with the “Partido Progressista Brasileiro (PPB)” (1995-2003).

From 2016 to 2018 he was a member of the "Partido Social Cristão (PSC)" before leaving in 2019 and becoming a member of the co-founded "Aliança pelo Brasil", which is assigned to the extreme right-wing spectrum.

© Mauro Pimentel/AFP

8 / 13For the presidential elections in Brazil in 2018, Jair Bolsonaro managed to get right-wing extremists and nationalists behind him.

In his aggressive election campaign, he focuses in particular on the topics of fighting corruption, crime and the economic crisis in South America.

In his speeches he calls for universal gun ownership and the right for police to torture and execute criminals without trial.

© Nelson Almeida/AFP

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9 / 13On September 6, 2018, Bolsonaro, who was leading the polls at the time, clutched his stomach during a campaign event in southern Brazil, his face contorted in pain.

Seconds earlier, he was stabbed in the upper body with a knife by a 40-year-old man and critically injured.

The perpetrator, who confessed, was arrested on the spot and later explained that he had carried out the crime at "God's wish".

Meanwhile, Jair Bolsonaro undergoes emergency surgery and survives the assassination.

© Raysa Leite/dpa

10 / 13Nearly two months later, on October 28, 2018, Jair Bolsonaro triumphed in the runoff with 55.1 percent of the vote, becoming Brazil's new president.

His opponent, Fernando Haddad of the Labor Party, has previously been vilified as a "dangerous communist".

Shortly after his election victory, Bolsonaro received a call from the USA - the then US President Donald Trump wanted to congratulate him.

© Mauro Pimentel/AFP

11 / 13Speaking of Trump: Jair Bolsonaro is often referred to as "Tropical Trump" or "Brazilian Donald Trump".

Like the American, the Brazilian does not shy away from lying for his own interests, twisting facts or simply ignoring pressing concerns.

In addition, Bolsonaro repeatedly attracts attention with racist, sexist and homophobic statements.

But he also has to put up with accusations of deliberate environmental destruction, downplaying the Brazilian military dictatorship and spreading conspiracy theories.

American journalist Glenn Greenwald called Bolsonaro “the most misogynistic, hateful elected official in the democratic world.”

© Evan Vucci/dpa

12 / 13During Bolsonaro's term of office, there were several demonstrations against him and his policies.

As early as 2018, protests against Jair Bolsonaro were held under the motto "Elenão" (literally: "Not him"), which were led by women and took place in all major cities in Brazil.

Tens of thousands of people demonstrated against Bolsonaro's racist, misogynistic and homophobic statements.

In the years that followed, demonstrators took to the streets, among other things, because of the destruction of the rainforest.

© Cris Faga/Imago

13 / 13Towards the end of his term, Jair Bolsonaro has repeatedly stated that he intends to stand again in the upcoming Brazilian elections on October 2, 2022.

To this end, he will join the right-wing “Partido Liberal” in November 2021, since he has to belong to a party as a presidential candidate in Brazil.

At the time, there were already a large number of applications for impeachment proceedings against Bolsonaro, and the judicial authorities were also investigating five different proceedings against him.

But even before that, Bolsonaro makes it clear how he imagines his future: either he will be arrested, assassinated, or he will be re-elected.

© Mauro Pimentel/AFP