| Ricardo Vélez Rodríguez | |
| Office: | Minister of Education |
| Term Start: | 1 January 2019 |
| Term End: | 8 April 2019 |
| President: | Jair Bolsonaro |
| Predecessor: | Rossieli Soares |
| Successor: | Abraham Weintraub |
| Birth Date: | 15 November 1943 |
| Birth Place: | Bogotá, Colombia |
| Alma Mater: | Pontifical Xavierian University Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro Gama Filho University |
Ricardo Vélez Rodríguez (born 15 November 1943) is a Colombian-Brazilian philosopher[1] and former Minister of Education of Brazil.
Rodríguez was born in 1943 in Bogotá, Colombia. He received a degree in Philosophy from the Pontifical Xavierian University in 1963, and in 1967 received a degree in Theology from the Bogotá Seminar. In 1974 he received a master's degree from the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro and in 1982 received a doctorate in philosophy from Universidade Gama Filho.[2]
He is a professor of religion at the Federal University of Juiz de Fora.[3] Rodríguez is a fierce critic of the Workers' Party, the Brazilian National High School Exam, and is a proponent of the "Escola sem Partido" ("Nonpartisan School") project.[4] His political views have been described as far-right.[5] He had been recommended by the philosopher Olavo de Carvalho.[6]
On 22 November 2018, Brazilian President-elect Jair Bolsonaro announced that Rodríguez would serve as Brazil's Minister of Education in the coming administration.[7] He took office on 1 January 2019.