Anthony Garotinho
| Anthony Garotinho | |
|---|---|
 |
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 Governor of Rio de Janeiro |
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In office January 1, 1999 – April 6, 2002 |
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| Preceded by | Marcello Alencar |
| Succeeded by | Benedita da Silva |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
April 18, 1960 Campos dos Goytacazes, Brazil |
| Political party | Party of the Republic |
| Spouse(s) | Rosângela Assed Matheus |
Anthony William Garotinho Matheus de Oliveira (born in Campos dos Goytacazes, Rio de Janeiro, 1960) is a Brazilian politician. He legally adopted his stage name "Garotinho" (Little Boy in Portuguese), originally a nickname he took while working as a radio sports broadcaster.
He is also one of the best known Brazilian evangelical politicians. Garotinho believes he was reborn as an evangelical Christian following a car crash in 1994. He is married to Rosinha Matheus and has nine children, of which five are adopted.
A popular radio anchorman, fond of amateur theater, Garotinho entered politics through grassroots activism, joining the Brazilian Communist Party and helping to reorganize the sugar-cane workers' union in Campos. He entered electoral politics in 1982, presenting himself as candidate for a councilman seat in the same city on the Workers' Party ticket, failing to be elected because the party's list of candidates didn't achieve the necessary threshold of ballots to have a representation in the Municipal Chamber. Afterwards, he joined the Democratic Labour Party (PDT), being elected for the State Legislature (1986) and winning the Campos mayoral elections in 1988. After his term as mayor of Campos (1989–1992), during which he took some measures to support small producers and to develop alternatives to sugar cane monoculture, as well as supported MST settler projects, he was chosen by Governor Leonel Brizola as State Secretary of Agriculture (1993–1994), presenting himself as the PDT's candidate for Governor in the 1994 elections, being defeated by Marcelo Alencar (PSDB). After being reelected for mayor in 1996, he was eventually elected Governor of Rio de Janeiro State in 1998, for the 1999-2002 term of office, posing himself as the "crown prince" for Brizola, who had already entered a process of political decay and loss of charisma and personal influence.
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