A CANDIDATE CALLED ‘Barack Obama’ is running for office in Brazil.
Claudio Henrique dos Anjos, who has nicknamed himself Barack Obama for the purposes of the campaign, is standing for election to congress for the country’s ruling party.
He is using a red, white and blue colour scheme and his website declares, according to the (possibly unfair) rendering of Google Translate:
Yup! We Can! Change is possible.
Henrique also has a similar skin tone, and sports a similar haircut, to the real Obama.
Here’s his campaign video, in which he explains himself to the tune of an ‘Obama! Obama! Obama!’ chant:
Electoral laws in Brazil give candidates leeway to choose the name they want to go by in campaigns.
People’s nicknames are almost always more well known than their real names. For instance, Edison Arantes do Nascimento is the football legend better known as Pele.
On his website, Henrique explains (thanks again Google Translate):
In the disputed 2008 elections for mayor of Belford, I was compared to the then candidate for President of the United States. The first comparison was naturally to be black and the ability to overcome.
Henrique declares his full name on his website, but his ballots will simply read “Barack Obama” after a court ruling this month approving the measure.
Additional reporting © – AFP 2014
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