Biographie
Fernando Gabeira is a writer, journalist, and former Federal Deputy for Rio de Janeiro (1995-2011). Born in Juíz de Fora, Minas Gerais, he has lived in Rio de Janeiro since 1963. He has two daughters, Tami and Maya Gabeira. Early in his career, he gained recognition as an editor for "Jornal do Brasil," where he worked from 1964 to 1968. Colleagues noted that Gabeira's distinctive writing style was identifiable even in brief notes. In the late 1960s, he joined the armed resistance against the military dictatorship, during which he was arrested, tortured, and exiled.
During a decade of exile, he lived in several countries including Algeria, Cuba, Chile, and Sweden. In Chile, he witnessed the 1973 military coup that ousted Salvador Allende, later depicting Allende’s fall and death in a script for Swedish television. In Sweden, where he spent most of his exile, he worked as a journalist, mainly for Radio Sweden, and even as a subway driver in Stockholm. After amnesty was granted, he returned to Brazil at the end of 1979. In the following years, Gabeira engaged in prolific literary work, producing the first critical analyses of the armed struggle and introducing topics like individual freedoms and ecology to Brazil. His books—such as "O Que é Isso, Companheiro?" (1979), "O Crepúsculo do Macho" (1980), "Entradas e Bandeiras" (1981), "Hóspede da Utopia" (1981), "Nós que Amávamos tanto a Revolução" (1985), and "Vida Alternativa" (1985)—opened new perspectives on mentalities and brought renewed attention to longstanding concepts within Brazilian society.
In 1986, he joined the Green Party (Partido Verde, PV), becoming one of its founding members and running for state government. His political and journalistic efforts were prominent in key national events, particularly those concerning the environment, including the investigation of Chico Mendes’ murder, halting the Angra I nuclear power plant due to safety concerns, and the global indigenous peoples’ meeting in Altamira, Pará. In 1988, he published "Greenpeace: Green Guerrilla of Peace," a report that introduced Brazil to the philosophy and inner workings of the world’s largest environmental organization. In 1989, he ran for President of the Republic. By then, he had become a leading figure of a new public opinion that was more intellectual and focused on environmental, cultural, and ethical matters. That same year, as a journalist, he witnessed the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Gabeira was first elected Federal Deputy in 1994. Between 1998 and 2002, he was one of the most influential members of the National Congress. In 2006, he was the top-voted candidate in the state. Over four consecutive terms, he changed political parties several times.
In 2011, at the end of his fourth term, he chose to leave politics. A supporter of Operation Car Wash (Lava Jato), he believes the operation merely exposed the decline of Brazil’s party system. Since 2013, he has returned to journalism as the host of "Fernando Gabeira," an interview and report show on the GloboNews channel, and since 2014, he has written a weekly column for "Jornal O Globo," a move seen as closing a chapter in his career.
