Jair Bolsonaro

Jair Messias Bolsonaro (born 21 March 1955 in Glicério, São Paulo) is a Brazilian politician who served as President of Brazil from 1 January 2019 to 31 December 2022. A retired army captain, he spent nearly three decades as a federal deputy for Rio de Janeiro (1991–2018), cycling through several small parties before winning the presidency in 2018 as the candidate of the Social Liberal Party (PSL). He later helped found the Liberal Party (PL)–aligned bloc that anchored his 2022 re-election bid.

Bolsonaro's presidency was defined by a hard-right agenda combining social conservatism, economic liberalization under finance minister Paulo Guedes, and close alignment with the Donald Trump administration in Washington. His government drew international criticism for rising deforestation in the Amazon, weakening of environmental enforcement agencies such as IBAMA, and confrontational rhetoric toward indigenous groups, the press, and the Supreme Federal Tribunal (STF). His handling of the COVID-19 pandemic — including promotion of hydroxychloroquine and skepticism of lockdowns and vaccines — was the subject of a Senate parliamentary inquiry (CPI da Covid) in 2021.

He lost the October 2022 runoff to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva by a narrow margin. On 8 January 2023, supporters stormed the Praça dos Três Poderes in Brasília, attacking the Congress, Planalto Palace, and STF; Bolsonaro was in Florida at the time. In June 2023 the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) ruled him ineligible to hold office until 2030 for abuse of political power. In 2024–2025 he faced multiple federal investigations led by the Federal Police and the STF, including charges related to an alleged coup plot to prevent Lula's inauguration. He has denied wrongdoing.

Bolsonaro remains a central figure on the Brazilian and Latin American right, and a frequent reference point in debates over democratic backsliding, election integrity, and Amazon governance.