Luiz Fernando de Souza, commonly known as Luiz Fernando Pezão or even Pezão (English: ''Bigfoot'') (born 29 March 1958) is an entrepreneur, politician and former governor of the state of

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

. He was succeeded by acting Governor

Francisco Dornelles Francisco Dornelles (born January 7, 1935) is a Brazilian lawyer, economist and politician. He was the vice governor of Rio de Janeiro from 2015 to 2019 and was the interim Governor during March and October 2016 after the illness of governor Luiz ...

from 28 March 2016 to 31 October 2016. Pezão has a degree in Administration and became a politician in the 1980s, as

councillor A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries. Canada Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...

of Piraí. He then served two times as

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

of the town. In 2006, Pezão was chosen by Sérgio Cabral, then candidate to the governorship of Rio de Janeiro, to be his running mate. They won the election and Pezão took office as Vice Governor and State Secretary of Public Works simultaneously. He assumed the office of governor due to the resignation of Sérgio Cabral, that at the time had plans to run for the

senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

). Pezão is a member of the Brazilian Democratic Movement, one of the most powerful political parties of the country. He was reelected governor in the 2014 gubernatorial election, running against former governor

Anthony Garotinho Anthony William Matheus de Oliveira (born 18 April 1960), also known as Anthony Garotinho, is a Brazilian politician, radio broadcaster and convicted felon. He legally adopted his stage name "Garotinho" (Little Boy in Portuguese), originally a n ...

, and the senators Lindberg Farias and

Marcelo Crivella Marcelo Bezerra Crivella (; born 9 October 1957) is a Brazilian Evangelical pastor, gospel singer and politician. He served as the Mayor of the city of Rio de Janeiro from 1 January 2017 until 31 December 2020. In the 2020 Rio de Janeiro mayora ...

Governador do Rio de Janeiro Luiz Fernando Pezão

On 29 November 2018, after a request of the Prosecutor General of the Republic

Raquel Dodge Raquel Elias Ferreira Dodge (born 26 July 1961) is a former Prosecutor General of Brazil. Previously, she was a sub-prosecutor general of the Republic and served as the Prosecutor General of the Republic from 2017 to 2019. Biography Dodge was bor ...

, accepted by the Justice of the Superior Court of Justice Felix Fischer, Pezão was arrested by the Federal Police in a new phase of

Operation Car Wash Operation Car Wash ( pt, Operação Lava Jato) was a criminal investigation by the Federal Police of Brazil's Curitiba branch. It began in March 2014 and was initially headed by investigative judge in France, but unlike judges in the common law ...

, named Operation Werewolf (''Operação Boca de Lobo''). Pezão is accused of proceeding with corruption schemes that began during the government of Sérgio Cabral. As his term ends on 31 December 2018, Vice Governor Francisco Dornelles took office as Acting Governor.

References

Profile of the Governor of Rio de Janeiro
* * * , - 1955 births Living people Brazilian engineers Governors of Rio de Janeiro (state) Vice Governors of Rio de Janeiro (state) Brazilian Democratic Movement politicians Brazilian politicians convicted of corruption {{Brazil-politician-stub