Hélio Fernando Barbosa Lopes | |
Office: | Member of the Chamber of Deputies for Rio de Janeiro |
Term Start: | February 1, 2019 |
Office1: | Member of the Municipal Chamber of Nova Iguaçu |
Term Start1: | January 1, 2017 |
Term End1: | February 1, 2019 |
Birth Date: | 28 March 1969 |
Birth Place: | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |
Military Blank1: | Military service |
Allegiance: | Brazil |
Branch: | Brazilian Army |
Rank: | Sub-lieutenant |
Unit: |
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Serviceyears: | 1992–2019 |
Alma Mater: | University of Southern Santa Catarina Brazilian Army Specialized Instruction School |
Residence: | Rio de Janeiro and Brasília |
Hélio Fernando Barbosa Lopes (Rio de Janeiro, March 28, 1969),[1] also known as Hélio Negão (literally: big black Hélio) and Hélio Bolsonaro, is a Brazilian military sub-lieutenant and politician.
A member of PSL (Social Liberal Party), he ran in the 2018 election and was elected Federal Deputy. He received the most votes in the state of Rio de Janeiro,[2] and is the most-voted Afro-Brazilian in Rio de Janeiro and Brazilian history. Lopes is known for being a close friend of Jair Bolsonaro.[3]
Lopes ran in 2004 as a PRP member to the position of alderman in the municipality of Queimados in the state of Rio de Janeiro, but was not elected, having obtained only 277 votes. In 2014 he ran as a PTN member to the position of Federal Deputy for the state of Rio de Janeiro, but had his candidacy rejected. In 2016 he ran as PSC's candidate to the position of alderman in the municipality of Nova Iguaçu in the state of Rio de Janeiro, but was again not elected, having obtained only 480 votes.
In 2018, Lopes was a candidate from his current party, PSL, to the position of Federal Deputy for the state of Rio de Janeiro, receiving direct support from his friend and fellow party member, Jair Bolsonaro, who was elected President of Brazil. He received 345,234 votes (4.47% invalid votes) for Congress, thus becoming the most-voted candidate for Federal Deputy in the state of Rio de Janeiro in the general elections of 2018, and also the most-voted Brazilian of predominantly African descent in the history of Rio de Janeiro and Brazil.