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Tarso Genro
Governor of Rio Grande do Sul
In office 1 January 2011 – 1 January 2015
Vice Governor	Beto Grill
Preceded by	Yeda Crusius
Succeeded by	José Ivo Sartori
Other positions Minister of Justice In office 16 March 2007 – 10 February 2010 President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva Preceded by Márcio Thomaz Bastos Succeeded by Luiz Paulo Barreto Minister of Institutional Relations In office 3 April 2006 – 16 March 2007 President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva Preceded by Jaques Wagner Succeeded by Walfrido dos Mares Guia National President of the Workers' Party In office 9 July 2005 – 11 October 2005 Preceded by José Genoino Succeeded by Ricardo Berzoini Minister of Education In office 27 January 2004 – 29 July 2005 President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva Preceded by Cristovam Buarque Succeeded by Fernando Haddad Mayor of Porto Alegre In office 1 January 2001 – 4 April 2002 Vice Mayor João Verle Preceded by Raul Pont Succeeded by João Verle In office 1 January 1993 – 1 January 1997 Vice Mayor Raul Pont Preceded by Olívio Dutra Succeeded by Raul Pont Federal Deputy for Rio Grande do Sul In office 6 April 1990 – 1 February 1991 Constituency At-large In office 11 January 1989 – 2 March 1989 Constituency At-large Vice Mayor of Porto Alegre In office 1 January 1989 – 1 January 1993 Mayor Olívio Dutra Preceded by Glênio Peres Succeeded by Raul Pont
Personal details
Born	(1947-03-06) 6 March 1947 (age 77) São Borja, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
Political party	PT
Spouse	Sandra Krebs Genro
Children	Luciana Vanessa
Alma mater	Federal University of Santa Maria

Tarso Fernando Herz Genro (born 6 March 1947) is a Brazilian politician from the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul. An associate of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Genro was a leader of the Workers' Party (PT) in the 2000s.

Genro was born to a working-class family in São Borja, Rio Grande do Sul, Genro was active in politics from a young age. In the early 1980s, Genro was a spokesman for the Communist Revolutionary Party (PRC) ^[1] along with his brother, Adelmo Genro Filho.^{[ citation needed]}

As a member of the Workers' Party (PT), he was elected deputy mayor of Porto Alegre by the "Popular Front". He accumulated the position of vice mayor with that of government secretary. In 1992, Genro was elected to the position of Mayor of Porto Alegre, though he lost reelection in 1996. In 1998, he was speculated to be a potential presidential candidate for the PT in the place of Lula, though Lula ended up running ^[2]

As a result of the Mensalão scandal, Genro served the remainder of José Genoíno's term as party president in 2005. Ricardo Berzoini was elected to the post later that year.^{[ citation needed]}

Following his service as interim president, Genro was a political adviser to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, former President of Brazil (2006–2010), during the contentious 2006 Presidential campaign. ^[3] On 16 March 2007, he became the new Minister of Justice in Lula's cabinet.

When Italian far-left terrorist Cesare Battisti of the Armed Proletarians for Communism, wanted for four murders, was arrested in Rio de Janeiro in March 2007 by Brazilian and French police officers, Genro granted him status as a political refugee. It was a controversial decision, which divided Italy and the Brazilian and international press. In November 2009, the Brazilian Supreme Court declared Genro's grant of refugee status illegal. ^[4]

In 2010, Genro was mentioned as a possible successor to Lula, though the PT nomination went to Dilma Rousseff. ^[5]

His daughter, Luciana Genro, is a socialist politician in Brazil who served as the presidential candidate of the Socialism and Liberty Party (PSOL) in 2014. Fernando Marcel Genro Robaina, his grandson, is a former Brazilian footballer.^{[ citation needed]}

Media related to Tarso Genro at Wikimedia Commons