26 Facts About Romeu Zema

Romeu Zema Neto was born on 28 October 1964 and is a Brazilian businessman, administrator, and politician affiliated with the NOVO party.

The current Governor of the state of Minas Gerais, Zema served as the head of the Zema Group, an industrial conglomerate, from 1990 to 2016.

Romeu Zema has been touted by some as a possible presidential candidate for the 2026 Brazilian presidential election, given his alliance with Jair Bolsonaro in the 2018 and 2022 Brazilian presidential elections.

Romeu Zema is considered one of the fiercest critics of current president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, as he has accused Lula of harming and sabotaging Minas Gerais on several occasions, which has led to public clashes between the two, with accusations being exchanged on both sides.

Romeu Zema's paternal great-grandfather, Domingos Zema, was an immigrant from the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies; Zema lived in considerable wealth due to the Zema Group, a conglomerate set up by Domingos.

Romeu Zema worked as a gas station attendant, clerk, stock clerk, cashier, buyer, seller, marketing analyst, commercial analyst and manager at various points in his life.

Romeu Zema has a degree from the Getulio Vargas Foundation in business administration.

Romeu Zema was a member of the Liberal Party for all of his political affiliation but changed to run for NOVO in the 2018 Minas Gerais gubernatorial election.

Romeu Zema officially declared support for Jair Bolsonaro during the campaign in the second round, a factor that led him to suffer criticism from the population, being booed and called an "opportunist" when participating in a campaign act in favor of Bolsonaro.

On social media, Antonio Anastasia criticized Romeu Zema's position stating that "he wanted PT on his side", even though the Workers' Party candidate was not part of the second round of the election.

On social media, Romeu Zema said that Anatasia's video was "fake news" and that he would not make a deal with PT.

Romeu Zema was elected in the second round of the 2018 elections as the 39th Governor of Minas Gerais, being driven by the search for renewal in politics and the anti-PT movement, mixed with Bolsonaro's growth in the 2018 elections.

Romeu Zema was inaugurated on 19 December 2018, along with vice governor Paulo Brant, an engineering professor, in the Palacio das Artes in Belo Horizonte.

Romeu Zema did not attend Jair Bolsonaro's inauguration, even though he had various forms of transportation at his disposal, largely bough in his predecessor term.

Romeu Zema had heavily campaigned against what he deemed "frivolous government spending" like the transportation in the election.

Romeu Zema had campaigned on cutting government spending and returning taxes to voters.

Romeu Zema struggled however, because his party only had 5 state deputies.

Still in 2020, even after the crises left by the readjustment of public security servants' salary and in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Romeu Zema government had the goal of approving the reform of the state pension, with the aim of improving, in the long term, the situation of public accounts in Minas Gerais; the state has one of the worst fiscal deficits in the country.

Governor Romeu Zema brought in a new government leader, state deputy Raul Belem.

Romeu Zema stated that tests for COVID-19 were "just to satisfy the curiosity of researchers, while not assisting in public health".

In 2021 it was reported that Romeu Zema's government was under investigation by Augusto Aras, the Attorney General of Brazil, for its handling of state PPE purchases that may have benefited certain companies rather than achieving the lowest price.

Romeu Zema only attended some of the debates and pointed to differing forms of misinformation in his campaign while maintaining a form of neutrality in the first round of the presidential elections, barely interacting with his party's nominee Felipe D'Avila, given one of his opponents was from Bolsonaro's party.

Romeu Zema was denounced by left-wing politicians across Brazil and even by allies from the Northeast.

Charles Soares de Sousa, the Romeu Zema-appointed superintendent of the Minas Gerais Supram, intervened to cancel a fine against Gute Schit, a mining company linked to a consulting firm Sousa had provided services for.

Romeu Zema was married to Ivana Scarpellini and had two children, Catharina and Domenico.

Romeu Zema has Italian citizenship in 2019, his Italian passport was revoked amid an investigation that revealed fraud in the issuance of documents by several Brazilians.