Jair Bolsonaro Fast Facts (August 30, 2018):
Jair Bolsonaro is the right-wing (far-right) candidate for President in Brazil who has repeatedly pledged to eliminate the Amazon rainforest. Like George W. Bush, he was born in the United States. Like U.S. President Donald Trump, he is a wealthy Brazilian-Brazilian oligarch who will be unable to govern Brazil’s vast riches. Like Trump, he has a controversial history of racism and sexism. He has also been labeled a “white nationalist” by a former aide and for being a “fascist” by a United Nations group.
Jair Bolsonaro is a former army captain. He became a general when he was a lieutenant in the Brazilian Air Force. He served as a company commander in several conflicts in his career. He then commanded the Air Force Academy. He later commanded military units in Brazil and the Middle East. When Bolsonaro retired from the army as a lieutenant colonel, he became a captain in the 3rd Air Division of the Brazilian Air Force. He was then promoted to the rank of major general. Finally, Bolsonaro was promoted to the rank of lieutenant general. In those positions, he was the Commander in Chief of the Brazilian Air Force, the head of the Brazilian Air Force Staff, and Commander of Air Group 3, respectively.
In 1988, then-General Bolsonaro was responsible for the bombing of a mosque in El-Alamein. Bolsonaro was accused of a mistake in the bombing that resulted in the death of 17 members of the Islamic Brotherhood, including women and children. His actions in the attack were harshly condemned by Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and U.S. Ambassador Henry Hyde, Jr. Bolsonaro, who was then a Congressman, denied the incident.
Bolsonaro was born on October 30, 1968, in the city of Itaquera, in the state of Para. When he was a year old, his family moved to the city of Itaguay
