Emílio Garrastazu Médici
Emílio Garrastazu Médici (born December 4, 1905 in Bagé , Rio Grande do Sul , † October 9, 1985 in Rio de Janeiro ) was President of Brazil during the military dictatorship .
Life
Garrastazu Médici was the descendant of a family with Italian and Basque roots. He received his military training in the military academies of Porto Alegre and Rio de Janeiro ; in 1929 he had already made it to first lieutenant. During the revolution in 1930 he mediated between the military and civilian conspirators; in the suppression of the revolution of São Paulo in 1932 he also participated. Médici enjoyed a steady career and held high positions in the military administration of General Artur da Costa e Silva , whose close friend he also became.
In 1961 he was promoted to brigadier general and in 1964 became a military attaché at the embassy in the USA.
After General Artur da Costa e Silva became president, Médici was appointed head of the intelligence service, Serviço Nacional de Informações , SNI. When the Costa e Silva government got into a government crisis because the president fell seriously ill, the military looked for three candidates from among its own ranks to succeed them. These were Médici, Antônio Carlos Murici and Ernesto Geisel .
On October 25, 1969, the National Congress elected Médici President; On October 30th, the day he was sworn in, a new constitution of the Federal Republic of Brazil came into force, giving the President a very great deal of power. With the help of the secret service, Médici subsequently controlled which candidates ran for local elections and otherwise often governed with the help of decrees. In this way he confirmed the censorship and made opposition members uneligible. Many of the repressive actions were legitimized with the fight against the growing violence on the part of the urban guerrillas and left-wing extremists; these had u. a. also kidnapped foreign diplomats. The widespread torture has been condemned by the international community. One of the urban guerrillas eliminated was the one founded by Carlos Marighela and Carlos Lamarca . This guerrilla was crushed and both were killed.
In 2008, a top secret CIA document was published showing that Medici, together with US President Richard Nixon and his security advisor Henry Kissinger , discussed the elimination of the Cuban dictator Fidel Castro and the democratically elected President of Chile Salvador Allende in 1971 .
During the rule of Médici, the Brazilian economy grew very quickly and inflation fell. This is known as the “Brazilian economic miracle”.
After the end of his tenure, Médici left politics voluntarily.
Medici was - temporarily - the namesake of a racetrack in Brasília; In 1974 a Formula 1 race was held there with the Grande Prêmio Presidente Medici named after him .
Individual evidence
- ^ Torcuato di Tella: History of Political Parties in Twentieth-Century Latin America . Transaction, New Brunswick, US 2004, p. 107.
- ↑ a b Memo: Nixon, Brazil Dictator Discussed Bid to Overthrow Castro, Allende by Juan O. Tamayo, The Miami Herald , August 18, 2009
| predecessor | Office | successor |
|---|---|---|
| Márcio de Souza Mello |
President of Brazil 1969–1974 |
Ernesto Geisel |
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Médici, Emílio Garrastazu |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Brazilian politician, President of Brazil (1969–1974) |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 4th December 1905 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Bagé , Rio Grande do Sul |
| DATE OF DEATH | October 9, 1985 |
| Place of death | Rio de Janeiro |