Enéas Carneiro
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Enéas Ferreira Carneiro (born November 5, 1938) is a Brazilian politician. He represents the state of São Paulo in the National Chamber of Deputies (the lower house of the National Congress), and has run for the presidency three times. He is a founder and leader of the Party of the Reconstruction of the National Order (PRONA), which is usually seen as being on the extreme right. He prefers being addressed and referred to by his first name.
Contents |
[edit] Early life
Enéas was born and raised in the state of Acre, in Brazil's far west. He lost his parents at 9 years of age, and was obliged to work to support his brothers. In 1958 he left Acre to begin studies in Rio de Janeiro. In 1959 he became an auxiliary anesthesiologist. In 1965 he received a medical degree from the Rio de Janeiro College of Medicine, with a specialty in cardiology. His academic pursuits, however, were not confined to medicine, and he has written articles on diverse subjects, including philosophy, logic and robotics. In 1980 he received a medical degree from the Cancer Hospital of Rio de Janeiro.
[edit] Political career
In 1985 he established PRONA. In 1989 he ran for the presidency in Brazil's first direct elections after the end of military rule. By Brazilian electoral laws, every candidate would be given a daily amount of free airtime to expose their agenda. As the amount of airtime was proportional to the candidate's party political size, PRONA only got roughly 15 seconds of airtime. But he made the most of the opportunity. His exotic image--he is a small, bald man with a large beard and thick "coke-bottle" glasses--drew attention, as did his inflamed and ultranationalistic speech. In what would become his trademark, he finished it with the catchphrase "My name is Enéas" - perhaps a gesture of humility or informality, or perhaps a way to save valuable time. The until-then unknown politician won 12th place out of 21 candidates.
He returned in 1994, making use then of 1 minute and 17 seconds. Surprising political experts, he finished ahead of various established politicians, such as the then-governor of state of Rio de Janeiro (Leonel Brizola), the former governor of the state of São Paulo (Orestes Quércia), and the then-governor of Santa Catarina (Esperidião Amin), with more than 4.6 million votes.
In 1998, Enéas took advantage of 1 minute and 40 seconds of available time to deliver a speech that was more nationalistic than ever. Its ideas, such as the construction of an atomic bomb, nationalization of Brazil's mineral resources, and increasing the military budget, sparked controversy.
In 2000 he ran for mayor of the city of São Paulo, with no success, but he still managed to gain votes for the election of his councilman candidate Havanir Nimtz.
In 2002 he ran for representative for São Paulo, getting the most-ever votes for that office. His party won enough votes, through the proportionality system, to choose three more representatives.
Enéas also participated actively in elections for mayors and councilmen in 2004, helping to choose councilmen in some capitals, as Rio and São Paulo, and mayors in small cities.
In 2006 he became again representative for São Paulo, this time as the third most voted of the state.
[edit] Praise and Criticism
Many see Enéas as being an extremist. Some critics view him as a new icon of the Integralist movement.
He has praised, and been praised by, controversial American political figure Lyndon LaRouche for their shared opposition to free trade, free market policies, and globalization. [1]
