Rodrigo Maroni (born 21 July 1981) is a Brazilian politician, as well as a yoga instructor and animal rights activist.
He has spent his political career representing
Rio Grande do Sul
Rio Grande do Sul (, ; ; "Great River of the South") is a Federative units of Brazil, state in the South Region, Brazil, southern region of Brazil. It is the Federative units of Brazil#List, fifth-most populous state and the List of Brazilian s ...
, having served in the state legislature since 2019.
Personal life
Rodrigo Maroni was born on 21 July 1981 in
Porto Alegre
Porto Alegre (, ; , ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian Federative units of Brazil, state of Rio Grande do Sul. Its population of roughly 1.4 million inhabitants (2022) makes it the List of largest cities in Brazil, 11th-most p ...
, Brazil. He identifies as a
Buddhist
Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
and was a yoga instructor prior to entering politics.
In 2019 he married public defender Isabel Wexel. Previously he had been in a relationship with journalist and politician
Manuela d'Ávila.
Maroni identifies as an animal rights activist, a key theme in his political campaigns.
In 2017 Maroni claimed to have been a victim of an assassination attempt. While he was driving to deliver a dog from an animal shelter, a couple on a motorcycle followed him and started shooting at him. After speeding up to avoid them he ultimately crashed his car, and hid behind a group of trees until he was sure the assailants were gone.
Political career
Maroni first entered politics in 1998 when joining the
Workers' Party
Workers' Party is a name used by several political parties throughout the world. The name has been used by both organisations on the left and right of the political spectrum. It is currently used by followers of Marxism, Marxism–Leninism, Maoism ...
. He remained a party member until 2005.
Maroni ran for the municipal council in his home city of
Porto Alegre
Porto Alegre (, ; , ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian Federative units of Brazil, state of Rio Grande do Sul. Its population of roughly 1.4 million inhabitants (2022) makes it the List of largest cities in Brazil, 11th-most p ...
in 2012, as a member of the
Communist Party of Brazil. He won 2,861 votes but was not elected.
In January 2015, he was appointed to the municipal council of Porto Alegre to fill the vacancy of fellow Communist Party member
João Derly, who had been elected as a federal deputy.
In March 2016, he joined the
Party of the Republic with the intention to run for mayor of Porto Alegre. However, in July 2016, federal deputy
Giovani Cherini assumed the state party's leadership, removed Maroni from the municipal directory, and forced him to abandon his candidacy for mayor. In reaction, Maroni angrily classified Cherini as "a colonialist and authoritarian". In the 2016 municipal election he was reelected to the position of councilor, coming in as the fourth-place candidate with 11,770 votes.
In September 2016, Maroni courted national attention and controversy when he presented a bill proposing life imprisonment to anyone who is found guilty of
cruelty to animals. He also submitted bills proposing that animal killers and rapists use electronic collars, and that humans who commit sexual violence against animals be forcibly
chemically castrated. Maroni's proposals were widely criticized as unrealistic and extreme, with many legal experts noting that life sentences and forced castration were deemed illegal under the
Constitution of Brazil
The Constitution of the Federative Republic of Brazil () is the Constitution, supreme law of Brazil. It is the foundation and source of the legal authority underlying the existence of Brazil and the federal government of Brazil. It replaced the ...
.
In May 2017, Maroni announced that he would be running for president in the
2018 election, claiming that "animals can have their first candidate for President of the Republic". However, his campaign for president never formally materialized. In September 2017, Maroni again switched parties to join
Podemos. In the 2018 elections, he was elected as a state deputy to the
Legislative Assembly of Rio Grande do Sul with 26,449 votes.
In September 2019, he was elected to be the regional president of the Podemos party in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. In late November 2019 Maroni once again announced his intention to run for mayor of Porto Alegre. However, in March 2020, the national president of Podemos,
Alvaro Dias, removed Maroni from his position as president of the state's party, and replaced him with
Lasier Martins. After being deposed as state party's president, Maroni left the party to join the
Republican Party of the Social Order.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maroni, Rodrigo
1981 births
Living people
People from Porto Alegre
Brazilian animal rights activists
Brazilian Buddhists
Workers' Party (Brazil) politicians
Socialism and Liberty Party politicians
Liberal Party (Brazil, 2006) politicians
Podemos (Brazil) politicians
Republican Party of the Social Order politicians
Members of the Legislative Assembly of Rio Grande do Sul