João de Deus Barbosa de Jesus was a Brazilian businessman and politician born in Salvador, Bahia.
João de Deus founded the Workers' Nationalist Party in 1990 and ran for federal deputy in that year's election, not getting elected.[1] After managing to get a candidate for state deputy elected in Ceará, the party ceased its activities in 1991 and was refounded in December as the Brazilian Workers' Nationalist Party.[2] The party contested the 1992 municipal elections and merged in 1993 with the Labour Party of Brazil (PTdoB).[3] [4]
Affiliated with the PTdoB, João de Deus ran for president in the 1998 presidential election. In his electoral campaign, he proposed to fight unemployment; to transfer the Amazon River to Northeast Brazil, a region affected by droughts; to create an exit for Brazil to the Pacific Ocean; and to implement projects from Getúlio Vargas' government, which included investments in public healthcare, the opening of state-funded restaurants for the poor and the increase in the minimum wage.[5] His candidacy was challenged in the Superior Electoral Court by the national leadership of his party, which had predetermined not to launch its own candidate.[6] João de Deus received 0.29% of the votes, coming 8th of 12 candidates.
In 2000, he ran for councillor in the city of Rio de Janeiro, but was not elected.[7]