Ricardo Vélez Rodríguez (born 15 November 1943) is a Colombian-Brazilian philosopher and former Minister of Education of Brazil.

Biography

Rodríguez was born in 1943 in

Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city of Colombia, and one of the larges ...

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

. He received a degree in

Philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

from the Pontifical Xavierian University in 1963, and in 1967 received a degree in Theology from the Bogotá Seminar. In 1974 he received a master's degree from the

Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro The Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro ( pt, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro, PUC-Rio) is a Jesuit, Catholic, pontifical university in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is the joint responsibility of the Catholic Ar ...

and in 1982 received a doctorate in philosophy from

Universidade Gama Filho Universidade Gama Filho was a private university in Brazil that operated from 1939 to 2014. It was located in the neighborhood of Piedade, in the northern part of Rio de Janeiro. The university originated with the establishment of Colégio Pi ...

. He is a professor of religion at the Federal University of Juiz de Fora. Rodríguez is a fierce critic of the Workers' Party, the Brazilian National High School Exam, and is a proponent of the "

Escola sem Partido Escola sem Partido (Portuguese for ''Nonpartisan School'') is a political movement in Brazil aimed at curbing what its supporters perceive to be indoctrination, ideological indoctrination in schools and universities. The movement began in 2004, wh ...

" ("Nonpartisan School") project. His political views have been described as

far-right Far-right politics, also referred to as the extreme right or right-wing extremism, are political beliefs and actions further to the right of the left–right political spectrum than the standard political right, particularly in terms of being ...

. He had been recommended by the philosopher Olavo de Carvalho. On 22 November 2018, Brazilian President-elect

Jair Bolsonaro Jair Messias Bolsonaro (; born 21 March 1955) is a Brazilian politician and retired military officer who has been the 38th president of Brazil since 1 January 2019. He was elected in 2018 as a member of the Social Liberal Party, which he turn ...

announced that Rodríguez would serve as Brazil's Minister of Education in the coming administration. He took office on 1 January 2019.

References

1943 births Living people People from Bogotá Pontifical Xavierian University alumni Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro alumni Brazilian anti-communists Conservatism in Brazil Roman Catholic writers Education Ministers of Brazil Colombian academics Brazilian academics Brazilian conspiracy theorists 20th-century Brazilian philosophers Federal University of Juiz de Fora {{Brazil-politician-stub