Tereza Cristina

Tereza Cristina Corrêa da Costa Dias (born 6 July 1954) is a Brazilian entrepreneur, agronomic engineer, and politician, member of the Democrats (DEM). She has been a Federal Deputy since 2015, representing the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, and is a member of the congressional ruralist front.[1] In November 2018, president-elect Jair Bolsonaro announced that she would be Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply and the first woman to compose the new government, which was inaugurated on 1 January 2019.[2] She was appointed by a group of 20 members of the Farming Parliamentary Front (FPA).

Tereza Cristina
Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply
Incumbent
Assumed office 1 January 2019
President	Jair Bolsonaro
Preceded by	Blairo Maggi
Federal Deputy from Mato Grosso do Sul
In office 1 February 2015 – 1 January 2019
Secretary of Agrarian Development, Production, Industry, Trade and Tourism of Mato Grosso do Sul
In office 1 January 2007 – 7 April 2014
Governor	André Puccinelli
Preceded by	João Crisóstomo Mauad Cavallero
Succeeded by	Paulo Engel
Personal details
Born	Tereza Cristina Corrêa da Costa Dias 6 July 1954 Campo Grande, MS, Brazil
Political party	DEM (Since 2017) PSB (Until 2017)
Education	Federal University of Viçosa
Occupation	Agronomic engineer, entrepreneur

Biography

Tereza Cristina Corrêa da Costa Dias was born in Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul, and received a bachelor's degree in agronomy from the Federal University of Viçosa.[3] Tereza Cristina was Secretary of Agrarian Development, Production, Industry, Trade and Tourism of Mato Grosso do Sul during the governorship of André Puccinelli (PMDB).

In the Mato Grosso do Sul state elections in 2014, she was elect Federal Deputy with 75,149 votes.[4] In January 2017, Tereza was elected Leader of the Brazilian Socialist Party (PSB) in the Chamber of Deputies, defeating Deputy Tadeu Alencar (PE) with 22 to 14 votes. Therefore, she became leader of a group of 36 deputies.[5]

She left PSB in October 2017 after the party joined the opposition to president Michel Temer. Other deputies followed her, like Fabio Garcia (MT), Adilton Sachetti (MT) and Danilo Forte (CE), as well as Minister of Mines and Energy Fernando Coelho Filho.[6] On December, she joined the Democrats (DEM), party of the President of the Chamber Rodrigo Maia (RJ).[7]

In 2018, Tereza Cristina headed a Chamber special committee that approved Bill 6,299, aimed at ending regulations on many pesticides in the country,[1] earning her the nickname "The Poison Muse".[8][9]

See also

• Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply
• Democrats

References

1. Camargos, Daniel (26 September 2018). "Campanha de defensora de lei pró-agrotóxicos já recebeu 350 mil reais de executivos ligados ao setor" (in Portuguese). El País. Retrieved 7 November 2018.
2. "Tereza Cristina (DEM-MS) será ministra da Agricultura de Bolsonaro" (in Portuguese). Folha de S. Paulo. 7 November 2018. Retrieved 7 November 2018.
3. Tereza Cristina: veja quem é e o que pensa a ministra da Agricultura de Bolsonaro, Canal Rural (UOL), accessed 7 November 2018
4. "Tereza Cristina 4040" (in Portuguese). Eleições 2014. Retrieved 7 November 2018.
5. "Deputada Tereza Cristina é a nova líder da bancada do PSB na Câmara" (in Portuguese). Liderança do PSB na Câmara. 30 January 2017. Retrieved 7 November 2018.
6. Rothenburg, Denise (24 October 2017). "Deputados deixam o PSB, destino provável é o DEM" (in Portuguese). Correio Braziliense. Retrieved 7 November 2018.
7. "Deputada Tereza Cristina assina filiação ao Democratas e ressalta qualidades do partido" (in Portuguese). Democratas. 19 December 2017. Retrieved 7 November 2018.
8. "Bolsonaro administration approves 197 pesticides in five months". Brasil de Fato (in Portuguese). 2019-05-22. Retrieved 2019-07-13.
9. "The Economists, Military, Moralists and Politicians Running Brazil Now". Bloomberg.