Marcel van Hattem is a political scientist, journalist, international relations consultant and Brazilian politician with a liberal-conservative political orientation. Marcel earned a BA degree in International Relations from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul and MA degree in Political Science from Leiden University. He was state deputy of Rio Grande do Sul for the Progressive Party between 2015 and 2018. In March 2018, he joined the NEW Party, being elected federal deputy in the same year. He has German and Dutch ancestry.
Biography
Marcel van Hattem was born on 8 November 1985 in Dois Irmãos, Rio Grande do Sul and began working at a young age, gaining experience as a draftsman, paperboy, and journalist. Soon afterward, Marcel was elected city councilor in Dois Irmãos at the age of 18 as a member of the Partido Progressista. In 2006, van Hattem ran for the Rio Grande do Sul State Assembly, receiving 11.656 votes from 185 cities. He also became president of the youth movement of his political party at state level. A couple of years later, Marcel earned his bachelor's degree in International Relations and specialized in Law & Economics and Constitutional Democracy, both from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul at the age of 22. From September 2009 to July 2011, van Hattem worked at the Brazilian Congress, in Brasilia, and, in 2010 he ran again for the Rio Grande do Sul State Assembly. Marcel increased his polling numbers, receiving 14.068 votes from across 288 cities. In 2012, he earned his Master's in Political Science at Leiden University in the Netherlands. Later on, he started working at the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs, Agriculture, and Innovation in the Hague. One year later, he began a masters in International Journalism at Arhus University in Denmark. In 2013 he started pursuing a Master's in Journalism, Media and Globalization. In the 2014 elections, van Hattem received 35.345 votes, taking office later on, at the age of 29, as the youngest Assemblyman of the Rio Grande do Sul State Assembly. Van Hattem was a foreign election observer to the Argentinian and Venezuelan elections and, in 2016, he participated in a mission to the Netherlands in order to analyze the possibilities of using the untapped waterways potential of Rio Grande do Sul state in cooperation with the Dutch government.
Journalism
Marcel is a journalist under MTE number 16.646 of 19 November 2012. He began his career working as a paperboy and reporter at a local newspaper in Dois Irmãos from 2003 to 2004. He is also an invited contributor to Voto Magazine and contributes to the Brazilian media writing opinion articles and doing interviews with renowned international experts. Marcel covered the Nobel Peace Prize to the Brazilian news in 2012 and was a foreign correspondent in Oslo, Norway of the following newspapers: Zero Hora and Estadão.
Parliamentary Action
Marcel van Hattem is the youngest Assemblyman and served in the 54th Legislature of the Rio Grande do Sul State Assembly. In the 2014 elections of 5 October, Marcel received 33.345 votes, becoming the first member substitute of his party fraction in Parliament. He took office on 10 February 2015, occupying the vacant seat left by Pedro Westphalen, who was appointed State Secretary of Transportation and Mobility. Marcel had an active participation in all demonstrations in favor of Dilma Rousseff's impeachment, including those in April, August, and December 2015. He followed closely the votes in the Brazilian House of Representatives and the Brazilian Senate. The assemblyman also made a fierce campaign against the political support given by his political party, at the national level, for Dilma Rousseff's government. Due to the state's fiscal crisis, Marcel decided that he could not morally accept the salary increase for the assemblymen, approved shortly before he took oath in 2014. The salary increase is returned every month to the state treasury. This value is automatically deducted from his paycheck. In May 2015, the bill “Escola sem Partido” is protocoled, which aims to end a perceived ideological indoctrination in schools. In August 2015, a bill to give better transparency of public spending on advertising by public agencies is protocoled. Systemically, Marcel positions himself and votes against the increase of taxes and of public expenses. Marcel also has great interest in foreign activities and events related to the promotion of democracy in universities, entities, think tanks, and political parties. He followed the Argentinian and Venezuelan elections in 2015 as an international observer and in 2016 he went on a mission to the Netherlands, in order to analyze the possibilities of using the unexplored river potential for transportation in cooperation with the Dutch government.
