The Brazilian-American Chamber of Commerce announced President Jair Messias Bolsonaro as the Brazilian recipient of the 2019 Person of the Year Awards.
Jair Bolsonaro was elected President of Brazil in October 2018 with 57 million votes, 55.13% of total votes, as the candidate of the coalition of the PSL and PRTB parties.
His political career began in 1988 as an elected representative of the City Council of Rio de Janeiro. In 1990, he was elected for the first of seven consecutive terms as Federal Deputy for Rio de Janeiro. In 2014, he received the most votes of any congressional candidate (Câmara dos Deputados) for the state of Rio de Janeiro. During his parliamentary mandates, he fought for the rights of active and inactive military and pensioners. He also focused on ways to improve the safety of citizens in Brazil and emphasized Christian values and family.
For the Brazilian-American Chamber of Commerce, the choice of President Bolsonaro is a recognition of his strongly stated intention of fostering closer commercial and diplomatic ties between Brazil and the United States and his firm commitment to building a strong and durable partnership between the two nations.
Event
The Person of the Year Awards Gala Dinner has been held annually by the Brazilian-American Chamber of Commerce since 1970. The Gala honors two outstanding leaders – one Brazilian and one American – who have been particularly instrumental in forging closer ties between the two nations. Past honorees have included President Fernando Henrique Cardoso, President Bill Clinton, Henrique Meirelles, Henry Kissinger, Federal Judge Sergio Moro, Michael Bloomberg and Timothy F. Geithner.
Last year the event was attended by nearly 1,000 participants from the business, financial, and diplomatic communities, many traveling from Brazil. In addition to the Gala, a series of parallel events sponsored by institutions such as FGV, Banco Itaú, BTG Pactual, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Citibank, and the Financial Times have all contributed to making the week of the Gala “Brazil Week” in New York.
The POY has become the premier event of the Brazilian-American community in the U.S., and its success has enabled the Chamber to expand its annual programming to further develop the ties between Brazil and the United States.
In addition, the net proceeds from the ceremony have been invested in the Person of the Year Fellowship Program, which has already benefited 95 Brazilian graduate students who are enrolled in top-tier American universities and have demonstrated academic excellence.
The 2019 edition will take place at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City on Tuesday, May 14th, from 6:30pm to 11:30pm. Registration for the event is open.
For more information, visit the site: www.brazilcham.com
(Fabio Rodrigues Pozzebom/Agência Brasil)