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José Serra | |
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 Official portrait, 2015 | |
| Senator forSão Paulo | |
| In office 1 February 2015 – 1 February 2023 | |
| In office 1 February 1995 – 1 February 2003 | |
| Minister of Foreign Affairs | |
| In office 12 May 2016 – 22 February 2017 | |
| President | Michel Temer |
| Preceded by | Mauro Vieira |
| Succeeded by | Aloysio Nunes |
| Governor of São Paulo | |
| In office 1 January 2007 – 2 April 2010 | |
| Vice Governor | Alberto Goldman |
| Preceded by | Cláudio Lembo |
| Succeeded by | Alberto Goldman |
| Mayor of São Paulo | |
| In office 1 January 2005 – 31 March 2006 | |
| Vice Mayor | Gilberto Kassab |
| Preceded by | Marta Suplicy |
| Succeeded by | Gilberto Kassab |
| Minister of Health | |
| In office 31 March 1998 – 20 February 2002 | |
| President | Fernando Henrique Cardoso |
| Preceded by | Carlos Albuquerque |
| Succeeded by | Barjas Negri |
| Minister of Planning and Budget | |
| In office 1 January 1995 – 30 April 1996 | |
| President | Fernando Henrique Cardoso |
| Preceded by | Beni Veras |
| Succeeded by | Antônio Kandir |
| Member of theChamber of Deputies | |
| In office 1 February 1987 – 1 January 1995 | |
| Constituency | São Paulo |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1942-03-19)19 March 1942 (age 83) |
| Political party | PSDB (1988–present) |
| Other political affiliations | PMDB (1979–88) |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
| Alma mater | University of São Paulo University of Chile Cornell University |
| Signature |  |
| Website | Official website |
José Serra Chirico (Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation:[ʒoˈzɛˈsɛʁɐ]; born 19 March 1942) is a Brazilian politician who has served as a Congressman, Senator, Minister of Planning, Minister of Health,Mayor of São Paulo, Governor ofSão Paulo state, andMinister of Foreign Affairs of Brazil.
José Serra was born in theSão Paulo neighbourhood ofMooca[1] to Francesco Serra,[2] anItalian immigrant fromCorigliano Calabro,Calabria,[3] and Serafina Chirico, a Brazilian born toItalian parents.[4] Serra comes from alower middle class family. His father was semi-illiterate and worked as a fruit vendor in a market of São Paulo, but he was able to enroll his only child in college.[5][6] In the early 1960s, he was a prominent member of the socio-political movement Ação Popular which opposed the conservative political system that existed at the time.[7]
Serra interrupted his studies in engineering at age 22 and left the country in 1964, after the coup that established the military government in Brazil.[8] Serra came to the attention of the authorities having served as President of theUnião Nacional dos Estudantes (UNE), (National Student Union) which opposed the existing conservative regime while he was a 4th year engineering student at the Polytechnic School at theUniversity of São Paulo.
José Serra was in exile from 1964 to 1978 in Bolivia, France, Chile, and the United States. In Chile, he did his master's degree in Economics and taught economics at theUniversity of Chile (Universidad de Chile). There he also married Monica Allende (1967), then a top ballerina at the National Ballet of Chile. They had two children, Veronica (1969) and Luciano (1973). In the United States José Serra was awarded a Masters and Ph.D. in economics atCornell University (Ithaca, NY)[9] and later spent 2 years at theInstitute for Advanced Study inPrinceton, NJ.
On returning to Brazil after the political amnesty in 1978, Serra lectured in economics at theUniversity of Campinas, did research for Cebrap, and wrote for the newspaperFolha de S. Paulo.
In 1982 he was appointed São Paulo's State Secretary for Economics and Planning underFranco Montoro's governorship, and became an influential secretary of Montoro's government. In 1986 and 1990 he was elected and then reelected to Congress. In 1994 he was elected Senator for the State of São Paulo with more than 6.5 million votes.
His first bid for the mayorship of the City of São Paulo came in 1988 in an election won for theWorker's Party (PT) byLuiza Erundina. He ran again in 1996, resigning as Minister of Planning to participate in the election for mayor, which was won byCelso Pitta. Pitta was the designated successor of mayorPaulo Maluf, who headed the right-wing populistProgressive Party (PP). After another stint as minister in the federal government, Serra ran for president on behalf of the PSDB party in 2002. He was beaten by four-time candidate and PT founderLuiz Inácio Lula da Silva in the second round.
In every elections since 1988 Serra represented theBrazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB), which he helped found in 1988 alongside former and future São Paulo State governors Franco Montoro and Mario Covas and future Brazilian presidentFernando Henrique Cardoso, from a split in theBrazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB). PSDB was seen as a coalition of democrats, liberals and social democrats with more centrist outlook than the leftistWorkers' Party (PT) of presidents Lula da Silva andDilma Rousseff. Both parties have great support in São Paulo state, but the state has been governed by the PSDB since 1994.
Serra came to political prominence underFernando Henrique Cardoso's presidency (1994–2002), when he was appointed minister of planning, and later minister of health. During Serra's tenure in the Health Ministry, thegeneric drug industry, which gave wider access to medicines to a poor population, and ANVISA, the Brazilian food and drug regulatory agency, were both created. All forms of tobacco advertising were banned, and cigarette packages were required to display images of smoking-related diseases.
Serra was elected mayor of São Paulo in 2004, defeating incumbentMarta Suplicy in the second round. Serra created theVirada Cultural, a 24-hour cultural festival inspired by the FrenchNuit Blanche.[10] He also established theBilhete Único system in theSão Paulo Metro subway system.
Serra sought nomination as the PSDB candidate for president in the2006 elections, but on March 14, 2006, decided to run instead for governor of the state of São Paulo. He resigned as mayor of São Paulo, although he had signed a pledge to finish his four-year term.[11]Gilberto Kassab, the deputy mayor, took office and remained the mayor until 2012. Serra won the governor's race and on January 1, 2007, took office as theGovernor of São Paulo State.
Cases ofcorruption andcartel formation involving José Serra are relatively old, both in Brazil and abroad.[12][13]Two interlinked controversies:
Serra's campaign was supported by American oil companies such asExxonMobil andChevron. He secretly promised to sell the rights to Brazil's newest petroleum discoveries in thepre-salt layer to those companies, reversing the model of da Silva.[16] Serra ended state-owned oil companyPetrobras' role as the chief operator of the pre-salt oil fields, which have an estimated value of three trillion dollars[17] – twice the size of Brazil'sgross domestic product (GDP).[18]WikiLeaks released several documents showing that Serra promised protection to Chevron[19] in order to transfer control fromPetrobras in case of election victory.[20]
 | This section needs to beupdated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(July 2022) |
Serra was the presidential candidate of the incumbentBrazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB) party in2002, an election he lost toLuiz Inácio Lula da Silva (Lula). In 2004, he was elected mayor of São Paulo in a run-off election with 55% of the votes after he signed a public commitment to stay in office for the full term. Nevertheless, he resigned after 15 months to run for governor of São Paulo in2006, and was elected in the first round with almost 60% of the vote.
Serra announced another run for the Brazilian presidency as the PSDB candidate in the2010 elections. He received support from his party, as well as theSocialist People's Party (PPS) and theDemocrats (DEM). His primary opposition in the election wasWorkers' Party (PT) candidateDilma Rousseff.[21] Serra's candidacy received support fromO Estado de S. Paulo[22] and British newspaperFinancial Times.[23] In the first-round voting October 3, 2010, an unexpectedly strong showing fromGreen Party candidateMarina Silva forced a second round run-off election between Serra and Rousseff on October 31, 2010, which Rousseff won 56% to 44%.
In February 2012, Serra announced he would run for mayor of São Paulo, which would have resulted in his second non-consecutive term, though he had left the first one before it ended.[24] In thesecond round of the2012 municipal elections he was defeated byFernando Haddad, the Workers' Party candidate.[25]
In August 2021, Serra was diagnosed withParkinson's disease and went in a medical leave from the Senate, returning in February 2022.[26] He later decided to run for a seat in the Chamber of Deputies after an invitation made by the Social Democracy Party.[27] Serra got 88,926 votes, placing 5th in the PSDB list, not being elected for Congress.[28]
If only to interrupt this relationship with power, Mr Serra is the better choice for Brazil.
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Carlos Albuquerque | Minister of Health 1998–2002 | Succeeded by Barjas Negri |
| Preceded by | Mayor of São Paulo 2005–2006 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Governor of São Paulo 2007–2010 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister of Foreign Affairs 2016–2017 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | PSDB nominee forPresident of Brazil 2002,2010 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Succeeded by | |
Governors of São Paulo(1889–present) | ||
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Mayors of São Paulo(1889–present) | ||
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| Old Republic (1889–1930) |  | |
| Vargas Era (1930–45) | ||
| Republic of '46 (1946–64) | ||
| Military dictatorship (1964–85) | ||
| New Republic (1985–present) | ||
| International | |
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| National | |
| Other | |
