Ernesto Geisel
Ernesto Geisel | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
President of Brazil | |||||||||||
In office 15 March 1974 – 15 March 1979 | |||||||||||
Vice President | Adalberto Pereira dos Santos | ||||||||||
Preceded by | Emílio Garrastazu Médici | ||||||||||
Succeeded by | João Figueiredo | ||||||||||
| |||||||||||
Personal details | |||||||||||
Born | Bento Gonçalves, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil | August 3, 1907||||||||||
Died | 12 September 1996 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | (aged 89)||||||||||
Resting place | São João Batista Cemetery | ||||||||||
Political party | ARENA (1974–1979) | ||||||||||
Spouse |
Lucy Markus (m. 1939) | ||||||||||
Children | Amália Orlando | ||||||||||
Alma mater | Military School of Realengo Officers Improvement School Army General Staff School | ||||||||||
Signature | |||||||||||
Military service | |||||||||||
Allegiance | Brazil | ||||||||||
Branch/service | Brazilian Army | ||||||||||
Years of service | 1927–1969 | ||||||||||
Rank | Army general | ||||||||||
Commands | List
| ||||||||||
Battles/wars | |||||||||||
Ernesto Beckmann Geisel (Portuguese pronunciation:
Early life and family
Ernesto Geisel was born in
In
Geisel was raised in a
Geisel married Lucy Markus, the daughter of an army colonel, in 1940. They had a daughter, Amália Lucy (later a university professor), and a son, Orlando, from whose 1957 death in a train accident Geisel never completely recovered. His widow died in an automobile accident in March 2000.[5]
Military career
Geisel along with his brother Orlando (1905–1979, who would be Minister of Army in Emílio Garrastazu Médici's government), entered the army in 1921 and in 1925 was the first of his class when he graduated from the Military High School of Porto Alegre. He acquired higher military education at the Military School of Realengo, and graduated it in 1928 as the first in his class and joined artillery unit as an Aspirante. Promoted to lieutenant in 1930.
Geisel witnessed and participated in the most prominent events of Brazilian history in the 20th century, such as the Revolution of 1930, the Getúlio Vargas dictatorship of Estado Novo and its overthrow in 1945. Geisel was military attache in Uruguay (1946–47).[6]
Promoted to brigadier-general in 1960, Geisel participated in the 1964 military coup d'état that overthrew the leftist president João Goulart. Geisel was an important figure during the coup and became Chief of the Military Staff of President Humberto de Alencar Castelo Branco from 1964 until 1967.[7]
In 1964 he was promoted to Lieutenant-General and in 1966 to the highest 4-star
Presidency (1974–1979)
In 1973, President
At that time the president of Brazil was chosen by the military command and then approved by the Congress to keep up the appearance of democracy. However, since the pro-military party, the
Economy
During the Brazilian Miracle from 1968 to 1973, the Brazilian economy had grown at a rate of more than 10% per year, the fastest in the world. But due to the oil shock crisis in 1974, development fell to 5–6% per year. Because much of the country's oil had to be imported, Brazil's foreign debt began to rise. This strategy was effective in promoting growth, but it also raised Brazil's import requirements markedly, increasing the already large current-account deficit. The current account was financed by running up the foreign debt. The expectation was that the combined effects of import substitution industrialization and export expansion eventually would bring about growing trade surpluses, allowing the service and repayment of the foreign debt.[citation needed]
President Geisel sought to maintain high economic growth rates, while dealing with the effects of the 1973 oil crisis. He maintained massive investments in infrastructure – highways, telecommunications, hydroelectric dams, mineral extraction, factories, and atomic energy. Fending off nationalist objections, he opened Brazil to oil prospecting by foreign firms for the first time since the early 1950s.[citation needed]
Relaxation of dictatorship
Geisel adopted a more moderate stance with regards to political opposition. Together with his
In 1977 and 1978, the presidential succession issue caused further political confrontation between Geisel and hard-liners. Noting that Brazil was only a "relative democracy," Geisel attempted in April 1977 to restrain the growing strength of the opposition
In 1978 Geisel had to deal with the first labor strikes since 1964 and
In 2018, an unearthed CIA memorandum from 11 April 1974 sent by William Colby to U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger details the summary executions of over 100 "subversives" which were personally authorized by Ernesto Geisel himself.[10]
Foreign policy
In his 5 years of government, Geisel adopted a more
Brazil shifted its foreign policy to meet its economic needs. "Responsible pragmatism" replaced strict alignment with the United States and a worldview based on ideological frontiers and blocs of nations. Because Brazil was 80% dependent on imported oil, Geisel shifted the country from a critical support of Israel to a more neutral stance on Middle Eastern affairs. Brazil moved closer to Latin America, Europe and Japan.
The 1975 agreement with West Germany to build nuclear reactors produced confrontation with the Carter administration, which also scolded the Geisel government for abusing human rights. Frustrated with what he saw as the highhandedness and lack of understanding of the
Honours
Foreign honours
- Grand Cross of the National Order of the Legion of Honour (French Republic, 26 April 1976)[11]
- Honorary Knight Grand Cross of The Most Honourable Order of the Bath (United Kingdom, 4 May 1976)
- Collar of the Supreme Order of the Chrysanthemum (Japan, 10 September 1976)[12]
- Grand Collar of the Military Order of Saint James of the Sword (Portuguese Republic, 1 June 1977)[13]
- Grand Collar of the Order of Prince Henry (Portuguese Republic, 13 February 1979)[14]
See also
- Brazilian military government
- Nuclear activities in Brazil
- History of ethanol fuel in Brazil
- 1974 Brazilian legislative election
- 1978 Brazilian legislative election
References
- ^ KOIFMAN, Fábio. Presidentes Do Brasil: De Deodoro A FHC.
- ^ KOIFMAN, Fábio. Presidentes Do Brasil: De Deodoro A FHC.
- ^ D'ARAUJO, Maria Celina. Ernesto Geisel.
- ^ D'ARAUJO, Maria Celina. Ernesto Geisel.
- ^ (in Portuguese) Death notice Archived April 6, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Ernesto Beckmann Geisel
- ^ "Ernesto Geisel." Encyclopedia of World Biography, 2nd ed. 17 Vols. Gale Research, 1998.
- ^ Ernesto Geisel Facts
- ^ Get to Know a Brazilian – Ernesto Geisel
- ^ Phillips, Tom (May 11, 2018). "'Astonishing' CIA memo shows Brazil's ex-dictator authorized torture and executions". The Guardian. Retrieved August 27, 2018.
- ^ "Viagem do PR Geisel à França" (PDF). Retrieved January 19, 2019.
- 内閣府. Retrieved May 1, 2020.
- ^ "Cidadãos Estrangeiros Agraciados com Ordens Portuguesas". Página Oficial das Ordens Honoríficas Portuguesas. Retrieved April 4, 2017.
- ^ "Cidadãos Estrangeiros Agraciados com Ordens Portuguesas". Página Oficial das Ordens Honoríficas Portuguesas. Retrieved April 4, 2017.