Who is Adolfo Sachsida, the new energy minister

The new Minister of Mines and Energy, Adolfo Sachsida, is a self-proclaimed Bolsonarista. He often celebrates, in statements and on social media, government measures and positive indicators using the expression “with the grace of God”.

He became a career server at Ipea (Institute of Applied Economic Research), an agency linked to the Ministry of Economy, 21 years ago (today, he is licensed). He entered the government of Jair Bolsonaro in 2019 as a secretary in an arm of the Paulo Guedes portfolio. Over time, he got closer and closer to the Planalto Palace.

He became Guedes’ special advisor with the mission of helping the minister more directly and helping him with data collection and communication. He started to be quoted by Bolsonaro in speeches.

Sachsida participated in the elaboration of microeconomic measures such as the Law on Guarantees, the legal framework for notaries, and worked on the preparation of extraordinary withdrawals from the FGTS (Fundo de Garantia do Tempo de Serviço).

In November 2020, he considered that the probability of a new wave of Covid-19 cases in the country was very low. At that time, the country was experiencing a slowdown in cases – but after the turn of the year, cases soared and the health crisis reached its peak in 2021.

“Several states have already reached or are close to achieving herd immunity,” Sachsida said at the time. “I think the probability of a second wave is very low. Not only that. I think the data we have shows something concrete, which is the strength of the economic recovery,” said Sachsida.

The statements were based on a study done by the team itself that suggested that Brazil could be reaching a percentage of infected that would allow for herd immunity (also called “herd immunity”).

In January 2021, he apologized for the statement. “It was my mistake to talk about the second wave, I take the opportunity to apologize,” he said. On at least one more occasion, he apologized again for the speech.

Graduated in Economics from UEL (University of Londrina), he has a PhD in Economics from the University of Brasília (UnB) and a postdoctoral degree from the University of Alabama, in the United States. But recently, in 2015, he also graduated in Law.