Nelson de Souza Carneiro (8 April 1910 – 6 February 1996) was a Brazilian journalist and politician who had a long career in the federal legislature since the late 1940s, representing various states.

He was arrested for having supported the Constitutionalist Revolution against the government of Getúlio Vargas, serving time in the former capital Rio de Janeiro.

[5] With the redemocratization of the country in 1945, he became a member of the UDN and ran for a vacancy in the Constituent Assembly meant to write out the new constitution, though he only became a substitute.

[7] In 1958, Carneiro moved to Rio de Janeiro with the intention to run for elections in what was then the Federal District, betting that a less conservative electorate would be more receptive to his proposals.

He was elected as a senator for Guanabara in 1970, later on representing the state of Rio de Janeiro after the fusion of the two federative entities on 15 March 1975 due to laws sanctioned by president Ernesto Geisel.

The party’s run to become governor of the state of Rio de Janeiro in 1982 saw Sandra Cavalcanti as their candidate, an adversary of Carneiro.

[5] On 9 July 2016, the 1400m tunnel of the Transolímpica extension was named Túnel Senador Nelson Carneiro, in the Serra do Engelho Velho neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro.