Kim Kataguiri

Kim Patroca Kataguiri (born 28 January 1996) is a Brazilian politician, activist, lecturer, and one of the founders and leaders of the Free Brazil Movement, a liberal group that promotes individual freedom of choice, free-market economic policies, and reduction of government bureaucracy.[1] In October 2018 he was elected a congressman for the 2019–2022 term, being the fourth most voted.[2]

Kim Kataguiri
Kataguiri in 2016.
Federal Deputy for São Paulo
Assumed office
1 February 2019
Personal details
Born (1996-01-28) January 28, 1996
Salto, São Paulo, Brazil
Political partyDemocrats

Political career

According to Kataguiri, his involvement in politics began in August 2013 when he was 17-years-old. In a history class at his college in São Paulo state, his teacher asserted[3] that Brazil's "popular cash transfer program applauded by many experts around the globe was responsible for the expansion of Brazil's middle class and for lifting millions of citizens from poverty during the last decade."[4] Kataguiri was not convinced: "That just seemed wrong. The family allowance might be necessary, but it has flaws and the main reasons for our high economic growth was the commodities boom and our relationship with China." He was also struck by how his peers readily accepted Brazil's model of state capitalism as practiced by the ruling Workers' Party. Rather than respond to his teacher in class, Kataguiri posted a video to YouTube, which quickly went viral. Kataguiri said: "This was when I realized I could use the internet to defend free market values."[3] He posted to YouTube more satirical videos,[4] which gained millions of views as Brazil fell into recession and political crisis.[3]

Kataguiri then founded the Free Brazil Movement, "a libertarian group that espouses free-market values". The first goal of the movement was to impeach Dilma Rousseff, the then-president of Brazil who belongs to the left-wing Workers' Party, for her failure to stop corruption in the state-owned oil and gas company Petrobras.[3][5] Kataguiri characterizes the Workers' Party as "the nemesis of freedom and democracy." Kataguiri says the broader goals of the movement are "to liberalize the state. We want less tax, less bureaucracy and the privatization of all public companies." On 15 March 2015, more than a million Brazilians attended anti-Rousseff protests around the country. In São Paulo, Kataguiri addressed 200,000 protesters in the largest demonstration in the city in a generation.[3]

In October 2015, Time magazine named Kataguiri as one of the most influential teens of 2015.[6]

In the 2018 general election, Kataguiri was elected to the federal Chamber of Deputies for the state of São Paulo. Receiving 465,310 votes, he came fourth in his state, being the fourth most voted amongst all candidates.[7][8]

Personal life

Kataguiri is the grandson of Japanese immigrants. His father is a retired metal worker.[3] Kataguiri claimed in an interview to be an Anglican Christian. He supports legalization of marijuana and same-sex marriage, but opposes abortion because it goes against the biblical commandment thou shall not kill.[9]

References
  1. "Propostas MLB" (PDF). MBL. Retrieved 3 July 2020. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  2. "Veja os candidatos a deputado federal eleitos em SP". G1. Retrieved 15 October 2018.
  3. "Meet the Teen Spearheading Brazil's Protests Against its President". Time. 27 October 2015.
  4. "Teen libertarian is face of Brazil's young free-market right". Associated Press. 30 March 2015.
  5. "Brazil activists to walk 600 miles for 'free markets, lower taxes and privatisation'". The Guardian. 24 April 2015.
  6. "The 30 Most Influential Teens of 2015: Kim Kataguiri, 19". Time. 27 October 2015.
  7. "Conheça os 70 deputados federais eleitos por São Paulo". R7 (in Portuguese). 7 October 2018. Retrieved 23 October 2018.
  8. "Filho de Bolsonaro tem recorde de votos para deputado federal". R7 (in Portuguese). 7 October 2018. Retrieved 23 October 2018.
  9. "Celebridades evangélicas: Kim Kataguiri, do MBL" (in Portuguese). Sã Doutrina Channel. 2 April 2018. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.