Eduardo da Costa Paes (, born 14 November 1969) is a Brazilian politician who was the mayor of the city of

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

from 2009 to 2012, re-elected for a second term from 2013 to 2016 and returning elected again in 2021. He is currently the 13th mayor of

. On 12 August 2012, at the

2012 Summer Olympics closing ceremony The closing ceremony of the London 2012 Summer Olympics, also known as A Symphony of British Music, was held on 12 August 2012 in the Olympic Stadium, London. The chief guest was Prince Harry of Wales representing Queen Elizabeth II. The closi ...

, Paes received the

Olympic Flag The International Olympic Committee (IOC) uses icons, flags and symbols to elevate the Olympic Games. These symbols include those commonly used during Olympic competition—such as the flame, fanfare and theme—as well as those used througho ...

, via

Jacques Rogge Jacques Jean Marie Rogge, Count Rogge (, ; 2 May 1942 – 29 August 2021) was a Belgian sports administrator and physician who served as the eighth President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) from 2001 to 2013. In 2013, Rogge bec ...

, from

London Mayor The mayor of London is the chief executive of the Greater London Authority. The role was created in 2000 after the Greater London devolution referendum in 1998, and was the first directly elected mayor in the United Kingdom. The current m ...

Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (; born 19 June 1964) is a British politician, writer and journalist who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He previously served as ...

. Paes was a noted trenchant critic of the Lula administration, particularly during the

Mensalão scandal The Mensalão scandal ( pt, Escândalo do Mensalão, ) was a major parliamentary vote-buying scandal by Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's administration that threatened to bring down his government in 2005. ''Mensalão'' is a neologism, a variant o ...

in 2005 over alleged payments to congressmen for votes. When it came to his administration as Rio de Janeiro's mayor, scandals continued to occur. As mayor during the bid, preparation and execution of the

2016 Summer Olympics ) , nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams) , athletes = 11,238 , events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines) , opening = 5 August 2016 , closing = 21 August 2016 , opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer , cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro de ...

in Rio, Paes faced many challenges, balancing the demands and opportunities of the Olympics with the needs of the Cariocas (the people of Rio de Janeiro). Paes ran unsuccessfully for

state governor in

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

. He was elected for a third term as Rio de Janeiro mayor in 2020, defeating incumbent Marcelo Crivella in the run-off. In 2021, even though being elected mayor by the party Democrats (DEM), Paes was successfully affiliated to the Democratic Social Party (PSD), starting a movement for other politicians connected to the mayor to affiliate themselves to the party.

Personal life

Paes is married to Cristine and has two children. He was born

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

, converted to

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul c ...

church but returned to Roman Catholicism.

References

External links

* , - , - , - , - , - 1969 births Living people Mayors of Rio de Janeiro (city) Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro alumni Members of the Chamber of Deputies (Brazil) from Rio de Janeiro (state) Green Party (Brazil) politicians Brazilian Labour Party (current) politicians Brazilian Social Democracy Party politicians Brazilian Democratic Movement politicians Democrats (Brazil) politicians Brazilian Roman Catholics Converts to Roman Catholicism from Baptist denominations {{Brazil-mayor-stub