Hamilton Mourão

Antônio Hamilton Martins Mourão (Portuguese pronunciation: [ɐ̃ˈtõniu ɐˈmiwtõ maʁˈtʃĩz mowˈɾɐ̃w]; born 15 August 1953) is a Brazilian politician and retired military officer who served as the 25th vice president of Brazil from 2019 to 2022.

Mourão served in the Brazilian Army for almost five decades from 1971 to 2018, retiring as a General, the highest rank a Brazilian soldier can reach during peace time. During his tenure in the military, he became nationally-known after a 2015 incident in which he criticized then-President Dilma Rousseff and called for "the awakening of a patriotic struggle".

In the 2018 election, Mourão intended to run for President as a member of the far-right Brazilian Labour Renewal Party. However, he dropped out of the race in order to join Jair Bolsonaro's successful campaign as his running mate. The two were elected in the second round of the election, and Mourão took office as Vice President on 1 January 2019.

Mourão is a controversial figure, owing to his praise of the military dictatorship in Brazil (1964–1985), during which he had served in the military. Nonetheless, during the Bolsonaro presidency, he has sometimes been seen as a moderate voice in the administration. His public disputes with Bolsonaro led to friction with Bolsonaro and his supporters, including calls for Mourão's impeachment from Bolsonaro-supporting members of Congress. Bolsonaro did not choose Mourão as his running mate in the 2022 election, instead picking Walter Souza Braga Netto in a losing presidential bid. Mourão opted instead to run for the Senate in the 2022 Brazilian general election, representing the state of Rio Grande do Sul, which he won.