The Brazilian-American Chamber of Commerce announced President Jair Messias Bolsonaro as the Brazilian honoree 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 the total, as the candidate of the coalition of the PSL and PRTB parties.
His political career began in 1988 as an elected councilor in the City Council of Rio de Janeiro. In 1990, he was elected for the first of seven consecutive terms as a Federal Deputy for Rio de Janeiro. In 2014, he received the highest number of votes among candidates for the Chamber of Deputies from the state of Rio de Janeiro. During his parliamentary terms, he fought for the rights of active and reserve military personnel and pensioners. He also dedicated himself to 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 declared intention to foster closer commercial and diplomatic ties between Brazil and the United States and his firm commitment to building a strong and lasting partnership between the two nations.Event
The Person of the Year Gala Dinner has been held annually by the Brazilian-American Chamber of Commerce since 1970. The Gala honors two exceptional leaders – one Brazilian and one American – who have been particularly decisive in creating closer ties between the two nations. Past honorees include 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 brought together nearly 1,000 participants from the business, financial, and diplomatic communities, many coming 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 contributed to making the Gala week the “Brazil Week” in New York.
The POY has become the main event of the Brazilian-American community in the U.S., and its success has allowed the Chamber to expand its annual programming to further strengthen ties between Brazil and the United States.
Moreover, 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 enrolled in elite American universities and who have demonstrated academic excellence.
The 2019 edition will take place at the American Museum of Natural History in New York on Tuesday, May 14, from 6:30 PM to 11:30 PM. Registration for the event is open.
For more information, visit the website: www.brazilcham.com
(Fabio Rodrigues Pozzebom/Agência Brasil)