He previously served as member of Brazil's Chamber of Deputies from to Bolsonaro began serving in the Brazilian Army in and graduated from the Military Academy of Agulhas Negras in He rose to publicity in after he wrote an article for Veja magazine criticizing low wages for military officers, after which he was arrested and detained for fifteen days. He left the army and was elected to the Municipal Chamber of Rio de Janeiro two years later. In , Bolsonaro was first elected to the Chamber of Deputies as a representative for the state of Rio de Janeiro.
During his year tenure as a congressman, he became known for his national conservatism. Bolsonaro entered the Brazilian presidential election , during which he started to advocate economically liberal and pro-market policies.
A polarizing and controversial politician, Bolsonaro's views and comments, which have been described as far-right and populist, have drawn both praise and criticism in Brazil. Bolsonaro focused on domestic affairs in his first months as president, dealing primarily with the fallout of the Brazilian economic crisis.
The economy recovered slowly, while crime rates fell sharply during the first year. On 30 June, the Superior Electoral Court blocked Bolsonaro from seeking office until for attempting to undermine the validity of the election through his unfounded claims of voter fraud, and for abusing his power by using government communication channels to both promote his campaign and to allege fraud.
Testimonies from military officials showed that Bolsonaro had allegedly planned a self-coup with the military to keep himself in power. As of November [update] , Bolsonaro has been formally accused by the Federal Police of multiple crimes related to the alleged coup.
