Brazil’s 200 Entrepreneurs Enable Controversial March 15th Protest Promoted by Bolsonaro

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – Jair Bolsonaro’s enthusiastic supporters during the 2018 election campaign, entrepreneurs from the Brasil 200 group are now using their influence, power and resources to finance attacks against the president of the Chamber of Deputies, Rodrigo Maia (DEM), and to support the anti-Congress and anti-STF protest march on March 15th that has been promoted by Bolsonaro.

The group is led by Gabriel Rocha Kanner, nephew of businessman Flávio Rocha, and Helcio Honda, attorney at FIESP (Federation of Industries of the State of São Paulo) and Paulo Skaf. The group also includes owners of large national wholesale and retail chains, such as Havan, Centauro and Riachuelo.

The group is the same one that launched the ‘Empregue Mais Um’ (‘Employ One More’) project in December 2018 to encourage the creation of jobs and boost the onset of the Bolsonaro government. The entrepreneurs also worked throughout the first year of the Bolsonaro government favoring liberal agendas, such as the Social Welfare reform.

Early last year, the group opened an office in Brasília and hired 12 lobbyists to work on the reform.

In addition to Rocha and Honda, Luciano Hang (Havan), João Apolinário (Polishop), Sebastião Bonfim (Centauro), Washington Cinel (Gocil), Edgar Corona (Smart Fit and Bio Ritmo), Cris Arcangell (Beauty’in and Shark Tank Brasil), Marcelo Pessoa (Galápagos Capital Fund Manager), Afrânio Barreira (Coco Bambu) and Marcelo Braga (BNZ and Eu Amo o Brasil Institute) are part of the Brasil 200. Together, the companies in Brasil 200 generate over R$40 billion in revenue.

Source: Revista Forum

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