Cesar Maia

Cesar Epitácio Maia (born July 18, 1945) is the current mayor of Rio de Janeiro and candidate for the presidency of Brazil in 2006.

Biography

Born in Copacabana, he briefly served the military in his late youth, leaving to study mining engineering in Ouro Preto. During the military dictatorship in Brazil, (1964-1968), Maia, a representative of the Partido Comunista Brasileiro (PCB), was persecuted and exiled in Chile, where he attended Universidade do Chile and achieved a degree in Economics. He returned to Brazil in 1973 and later became a professor of Macroeconomics at Fluminense Federal University (UFF), based in Niterói; Rio de Janeiro's major neighbor city. ==Early career== In the early 1980's, Maia affiliated with the [[Democratic Labour Party (Brazil)|Partido Democrático Brasileiro (PDT)]], supported governor Leonel Brizola's campaign and was appointed his Treasury Secretary for the state of Rio de Janeiro. In 1986 he was elected a member of the Chamber of Deputies and re-elected in 1990. Having achieved political proeminence in the late 1980's, Maia affiliated with the [[Party of the Brazilian Democratic Movement|Partido do Movimento Democrata Brasileiro (PMDB)]] in 1991, and was elected mayor of the city of Rio de Janeiro for the first time in 1992, surprisingly defeating his former party's candidate. ==Mayoral career== Cesar Maia is now on his third mayoral term for the city of Rio de Janeiro. His first mandate was focused on new directions on public administration and urban intervention, with discreet social impact. He was soon facing popular accusations of taking action in only superficial, "make-up", works, neglecting the city's real necessities and deep structural problems; claims that would follow throughout his political career. In the end of this first commission, he openly supported the candidacy of Luiz Paulo Conde, announcing him as his successor. Conde was then elected in 1996. Two years later, Maia ran for governor of the state of Rio de Janeiro and faced his first political defeat. He intended to run for mayor again, but his party would backup Conde's re-election. Former allies then broke up and Cesar affiliated with the [[Party of the Liberal Front|Partido da Frente Liberal (PFL)]], being elected for his second term in 2000.

In the office, his primary guidelines were to continue the plans and works in his first mandate. However, this time he seemed more focused on increasing Rio's international exposure, showcasing the city as more of a multi-cultural, cosmopolitan center. Applied for Rio de Janeiro to host the Olympics twice (once in 1996 for the 2004 games, and again in 2004, for 2012), but the city was disqualified both times. However, he later managed Rio to host the [http://www.cob.org.br/pan2007/ingles/indexing.asp 2007 Pan American Games]. Even though he is referred by some as an elitist politician with characteristic disregard for the masses, in his tenures Cesar Maia has developed major social programs for the city, some of the most important as follows:

• The Rio Cidade ("Rio city") and Favela-Bairro ("[from] slum

[to] neighborhood") projects, consisting basically in the renovation of urban landscape along with major structural improvements, especially in the poorest neighborhoods. *The Agentes da Liberdade ("agents of freedom") program, that aims to rehabilitate and reintroduce convicted criminals into society.

• Remédio em Casa, a pioneer welfare program through which patients

can receive their prescription medicines at home by mail, which is not only comfortable for them but also reduces waiting lines in public hospitals.

Third term and presidency

Maia faced strong criticism from both politicians and voters for announcing his candidacy for the presidency of Brazil even before stepping into office for his third mayoral term for the city of Rio. In fact, he pre-announced his party's intentions just a few weeks after the elections. Anyway, although it is mandatory to leave the office in case he's elected president, he claims his candidacy will not intefere with the current term, for he pledged to follow a rigid schedule to carry his campaign through his vacation days as the mayor. As one of the marketing strategies for his recent candidacy, Cesar switched from his well known navy-blue jacket to a more grave, sober, navy blue suit.

Cesar Maia in popular culture

Cesar Maia is considered by many as a polemical, even loony, public figure, due to various unpopular political maneuvers (e.g. the mandatory sending of homeless youth to public shelters; demolishing some evangelical churches, etc) and to seemingly absurd remarks, such as:

• Sugested washing the sidewalks at night with creolina (a very

powerful, nearly toxic, disinfectant) as a way of keeping the streets free of the homeless.

• Claimed using pictures of female politician Jandira Feghalli; one of

his opponents in the 2004 elections; to scare his grandchildren.

• During the 2004 mayoral elections, an adversary published a brochure

containing allegedly documented claims of Maia's connection to corruption. One of the acusations read "Cesar Maia tried to buy ice cream in the butcher's shop". The article referred to a supposed illegal use of public money in a scheme involving the purchase of food for public schools. *Is mentioned throughout the nonsensical Rap do Trabalhador ("Working Man Rap", a.k.a. Rap do Magalhães), a brazilian-like funk song, in the verse Cesar Maia quebrou a firma ("Cesar Maia broke the firm"); meaning he let the people down in some unfathomable way.

• Is suspected of wearing the same navy blue jacket in virtually every

public appearance during his first two mayoral terms.

• A prolific political and economical writer, he supposedly wrote some

material with "machiavellian" content in the past, thereby being linked with various obscure criminal incidents – such as theft mobs (the popular "arrastão") or spreading misleading rumours of general security threats –, all of which curiously occurred in periods of election. However, the investigations on these alleged acts of "political terrorism" always faded inconclusively and never lead to any formal accusations.

Miscellaneous

• Is an enthusiast of the popular movement proposing that the present

municipality of Rio de Janeiro should be "detached" from the state of Rio de Janeiro and restored to the condition of a city-state; much to the fashion of the old Guanabara State, back when it was the national capital.

• Steadily defends that the brazilian military

should be granted permission to be used against organized crime and drug trafficking, particularly in metropolises such as Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo.

• For two consecutive terms (1981-1983) was the president of the

Institute of Economics of Rio de Janeiro (Instituto de Economia do Rio de Janeiro - IERJ).

• Is the author of two books; Política é Ciência ("politics is

science", political science) and O Tom Desafinado ("the tuneless tone", economics); and had a biography named Cesar Maia written by writer and journalist Luiz Carlos Lisboa.

• His son, Rodrigo Maia, is currently a member of the [[Chamber of

Deputies]], elected in 2004.

• His favorite color is navy blue.

Quotation

"If you build a progression by simple linear regression, by [[least squares]], there's this victory by three points." (explaining to the media why he would win the upcoming 2000 elections.)

See also

List of Mayors of Rio de Janeiro

External links

• Cesar Maia Official Website (http://www.cesarmaia.com.br)
• [http://www.cob.org.br/pan2007/ingles/indexing.asp 2007 Pan American

Games Official Website]pt:Cesar Maia