Anthony Garotinho
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Anthony William "Garotinho" Matheus de Oliveira (born in Campos dos Goytacazes, Rio de Janeiro, 1960) is a Brazilian politician. He started as a radio presenter and changed his name legally to Garotinho - which means "Little Boy" - after it brought him success in his early career as a football commentator.[1] He is often seen as a populist and, nowadays, more as a liberal than as a socialist.
He is also one of the best known Brazilian evangelical politicians. He was reborn as an evangelical Christian following a car crash in 1994.[2] He is married to Rosinha Matheus and has nine children, of which five are adopted.
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[edit] Governor of Rio de Janeiro State
Garotinho joined the Democratic Labour Party (PDT) and was elected Governor of Rio de Janeiro State from 1999 to 2002. Garotinho targeted the poor by providing cut price meals at so-called "people's restaurants", building 35,000 affordable homes and giving badly-off families a monthly "citizen's cheque". At the same time, he balanced the books and renegotiated Rio's debt. He won high approval ratings, but his time in office was also marked by serious corruption allegations.[1]
Garotinho dismissed noted police reformer Luis Eduardo Soares, the assistant secretary of public security, in March 2000, which was seen as a serious setback for upholding human rights, according to Human Rights Watch. Garotinho insisted that Soares' removal was legitimate, but the circumstances suggested that he was removed due to pressure from the Rio police, with whose corrupt and violent elements Soares had been coming increasingly into conflict.[3][4]
[edit] State secretary for Public Security
He moved to the Brazilian Socialist Party (PSB) due to problems with the PDT leader, Leonel Brizola, and was the party's presidential candidate at the October 2002 presidential elections. Garotinho stepped down nine months early to run for president and reached 18% of the votes. He backed Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva for the second round. He helped his wife Rosinha Matheus to be re-elected as governor of the state of Rio de Janeiro. She appointed Garotinho as State secretary for Public Security.[5]
In August 2003 he left the PSB to join the historical Party of the Brazilian Democratic Movement (PMDB), that supported President Lula.[6] The move was seen as an attempt to secure federal funds for his wife's tenure as governor of the State of Rio de Janeiro and increase Garotinho's changes to run for President of Brazil in future elections.[7]
[edit] Hunger strike
On May 1, 2006 Garotinho announced a hunger strike in protest of what he called unjust treatment by the Brazilian media, after unanswered accusations of illegal campaign funding. Not fulfilling his promise, he later stopped his hunger strike and still has not answered his accusations. The whole hunger strike was a failure. The Brazilian press has written him off as a "clown" and a failing politician doing a bad impression of "a crucified Jesus Christ".[2] His attempt to be a presidential candidate was rejected by his own party.[citation needed]
On May 29, 2008 the Brazilian Federal Police issued an arrest warrant against Garotinho for "formation of armed gang". Main suspect was Rio's former police chief Alvaro Lins, now a Rio de Janeiro state congressman, who was charged with money laundering, criminal association, corruption and facilitating contraband. According to the public prosecutor's office, Garotinho had "politically guaranteed that Lins' group remained at the head of civil police."[8][9]
[edit] References
- ^ a b Anthony Garotinho: Evangelical 'sniper', BBC News, September 18, 2002
- ^ a b The hunger strike of Antony Garotinho, The Guardian, May 12, 2006
- ^ World Report 2001, Human Human Rights Watch, December 2000
- ^ Brazil police row leads to sacking, BBC News, March 18, 2000
- ^ As Crime and Politics Collide in Rio, City Cowers in Fear, The New York Times, May 8, 2003
- ^ (Portuguese) Garotinho "arrasta" 12 deputados para o PMDB e "esvazia" PSB, Folha online, August 19, 2003
- ^ (Portuguese) Quanto riso, oh, quanta alegria, Veja, August 27, 2003
- ^ (Portuguese) PF: Operação Segurança Pública S/A prende deputado Álvaro Lins, O Dia, May 29, 2008
- ^ Former Rio police chief arrested, ex-governor charged in corruption scandal, Associated Press, May 29, 2008
[edit] External links
- (Portuguese) Blog do Garotinho
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