The development 1945–1985
The opposition to Vargas’ dictatorial government resulted in his overthrow in 1945. Under the elected President General Eurico Gaspar Dutra (* 1885, † 1974), who was in office from 1946–51, the 1946 constitution re-introduced a democratic system of government. In 1950, Vargas was re-elected as president (took office in 1951). He pursued an economic nationalist program, throttled foreign investments, promoted the expansion of Brazilian industry (1953 establishment of the state oil company Petrobras) and supported agriculture. In 1954, under massive political pressure, he committed suicide. His successor was Vice President Joao Café Filho (* 1899, † 1970; September 1954 to November 1955). Brazil is a country of South America defined by topb2bwebsites, com.
President J. Kubitschek de Oliveira (1956–61) placed the emphasis on the promotion of foreign investments as well as the development of inner Brazil (construction of the new capital Brasília). His successor Jânio Quadros (* 1917, † 1992; January – August 1961), who wanted to combat the high inflation accelerated by the ambitious development policy of his predecessor through an austerity program, triggered a crisis with his resignation. Following a curtailment of the president’s powers in favor of the newly created office of prime minister (parliamentarism), the previous vice-president, João Goulart (* 1918, † 1976), who was prepared for social reforms, who have taken on the presidency. In 1963 he had this constitutional amendment reversed by means of a plebiscite. An opposition front formed which overthrew him in 1964 against his decrees on land reform and nationalization of oil refineries, as well as his demand for the ban on re-election for an incumbent president to be lifted.
For the next two decades, the military leadership selected the president from among their ranks. With several “institutional acts” the military established an authoritarian system of rule; Numerous people were arrested, many politicians were deprived of their political rights (including Kubitschek, Quadros, Goulart), the loose party structure from the Vargas era was replaced by a state-decreed two-party system (1965) and the opposition was suppressed. General H. Castelo Branco, President 1964–67, carried out a major revision among politicians and civil servants, increased taxes to reorganize state finances and encouraged foreign investment. Marshal Arthur da Costa e Silva saw himself as president (1967-69) lengthy strikes, student revolts and a strengthened political opposition. Institutional Act No. 5 (December 13, 1968) extended the dictatorial powers of the President. The President General E. Garrastazú Médici (1969-74) fought terrorist activities with great severity and pushed the economic development of the Amazon basin. Under his successor, General E. Geisel (1974-79), a loosening of the authoritarian system of government began (repeal of institutional act number 5 on January 1, 1979). The term of office of General Joao Baptista de Oliveira Figueiredo (* 1918, † 1999; 1979–85) was characterized by economic recession, growing foreign debts and high inflation rates. In domestic politics, Figueiredo continued the process of democratization: He relaxed the censorship regulations, allowed the return of exiled opposition politicians and allowed political parties to form more freely.
Return to democracy
An electoral committee appointed Tancredo de Almeida Neves (* 1910, † 1985) president in 1985; Illness prevented him from taking office, so that Vice-President J. Sarney initially led the office on an interim basis and became President after Neves‘ death (April 22, 1985). The presidential system was established in a constitutional reform in 1988 (direct election of the president). The 1989 presidential election was won by the candidate of the newly founded right-wing conservative Partido da Reconstrução Nacional (PRN, German National Reconstruction Party), Fernando Collor de Mello (* 1949; Took office in March 1990). Since May 1992, the President has faced allegations of corruption and breach of official duties; after initiating impeachment proceedings, he resigned on December 29, 1992. He was succeeded by Vice President Itamar Franco (* 1930, † 2011). His economics minister, F. Cardoso , succeeded in stopping inflation in mid-1994 (“Plano Real” for a comprehensive restructuring of the economy, administration and social system; July 1, 1994: introduction of the new currency, the real). This success helped make Cardoso (Social Democratic Party) won the 1994 presidential election. He continued his reform program (including the relaxation of state monopolies), but made little progress in social policy. a. land reform made little headway. As a reaction to this, the protests of the “landless” intensified, which expressed themselves in land occupations and mass demonstrations (1996/97), some of which were brutally fought by the military police. With a constitutional amendment, Cardoso made his re-election possible in 1998.
Latest development
After a runoff election on October 27, 2002, the co-founder of the Workers’ Party (PT) and former union leader L. I. Lula da Silva , who was supported by a center-left alliance, won the 2002 presidential election.
Thus, at the beginning of January 2003, a socialist politician took over the office of President for the first time. Protests by the landless and indigenous movement took place in 2003 and in the first half of 2004. A radicalization of these protests could be averted by an agrarian reform plan, which was drawn up and passed between August and October 2004 with the participation of the protesters and which led to tangible results from mid-2004. With advances in social policy and the economy, Lula da Silva was able to consolidate a parliamentary majority sufficient for constitutional reforms at the end of 2004 through the accession of opposition politicians (PMDB) to the government coalition. While the country’s economy continued to grow steadily in 2005, the government of Lula da Silva her first major crisis. A corruption scandal forced almost the entire leadership of his Labor Party to resign and damaged the president’s image as a “clean” politician. Nevertheless, he was confirmed in office on October 29, 2006 in a runoff election with 60.8% of the votes.
While the president’s personal reputation remained unbroken despite many domestic political scandals, ongoing social problems have diminished the government’s reputation. Crime and insecurity increased in the big cities, the drug gangs could no longer de facto be controlled by the police and the military, as in Mexico.
In the first round of the presidential elections on October 3rd, 2010, no applicant received an absolute majority of the votes. Dilma Rousseff , the candidate of the ruling Labor Party, won the casting vote on October 31, 2010 with 56% of the vote.
