Marcelo Crivella

Marcelo Bezerra Crivella (Portuguese pronunciation: [maʁˈsɛlu biˈzeʁɐ kɾiˈvɛlɐ]; born October 9, 1957) is a Brazilian Evangelical pastor, gospel singer and politician. He served as the Mayor of the city of Rio de Janeiro from January 1, 2017 until December 31, 2020. In the 2020 election, Crivella ran for a second term but lost to Eduardo Paes in each of the city's 49 constituencies. In 2002, Crivella was elected as a federal Senator of Brazil from the state of Rio de Janeiro on the Liberal Party ticket. He has since helped found the Brazilian Republican Party (PRB) which has been allied with President Luís Inácio Lula da Silva. With a Civil Engineering degree from Universidade Santa Ursula, Crivella became known for planning and execution of the Projeto Nordeste, a charitable project to redevelop lands abandoned by the Brazilian federal government in the city of Irecê. The project was developed to use Israeli irrigation practices, which Crivella has observed in his several trips to Israel. It has led to the renewal of agriculture and livestock raising there. He is a bishop of the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God (UCKG), an international evangelical church founded by his uncle Edir Macedo in 1977.