Fernando Henrique Cardoso, popularly known as FHC, was a Brazilian political scientist and sociologist who gained notoriety for being one of the creators of the Plano Real, the plan that stabilized Brazil's economy. This allowed him to be elected Brazilian President in the 1994 election.
FHC was ahead of Brazil for eight years, having been re-elected in 1998. His government was marked by the policies of stabilization of the economy and by the privatizations, but also stood out for the crisisenergetic who reached the end of his term in 2001, which became known as the blackout crisis. After the presidency, FHC retired from politics and started giving lectures.
Fernando Henrique Cardoso's youth
![FHC graduated as a sociologist, was responsible for the Real Plan and was elected president of Brazil for two terms.[1]](/f/114a7abd8d4c200f452c6d7f4259b083.jpg)
Fernando Henrique Cardoso, was born in June 18, 1931, in the city of Rio de Janeiro, at the time, capital of Brazil. FHC's parents were called Leônidas Fernandes Cardoso and Naíde Silva Cardoso. Due to his father's profession – military – FHC moved to the city of São Paulo at a very young age.
After having completed basic education, FHC joined the University of Sao Paulo (USP), enrolling in the course of Social Sciences. He graduated in Social Sciences in 1952 and then pursued an academic career, becoming a university professor.
In the 1950s, it became room assistant Florestan Fernandes, one of the greatest intellectuals in Brazil in the 20th century. he joined the doctorate degree in Social Sciences and concluded it in 1961, producing the thesis “Capitalism and Slavery in Southern Brazil”. Soon after, he entered a postgraduate course at the University of Paris.
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In this first stage of his youth, FHC was close to the student movement, sympathized with the Brazilian Communist Party (PCB) and attended study groups on Marxism. The international repercussion of the invasion of Hungary by Soviet Union made him move away from the left movements.
Accessalso: Castelo Branco government - the government that forced FHC to leave the country
Military dictatorship
Between March 31 and April 2, 1964, the events related to the Civil-Military Coup of 1964. This was the coup responsible for illegally bringing down the president João Goulart and put the military in power, initiating a exception period which spanned 21 years in our country.
The beginning of the “witch hunt” that took place in Brazil meant that Fernando Henrique Cardoso had to flee the country. This is because FHC already occupied the position of one of the greatest intellectuals in Brazil and, for this reason, he and many others were persecuted. The existence of an arrest warrant is what made FHC flee, first to Argentina, then to Chile.
It was only in the 1990s that the reasons that justified the arrest order against FHC were discovered. He was accused of being a communist for the content taught in his classes, for the books he had and because, in the 1950s, actively participated in the Brazilian oil nationalization campaign, known as “The oil it is ours".
During his exile, FHC lived for three years in Chile, where he produced a book with Enzo Faletto, called “Dependency and development in Latin America”. This book was a great success and would make FHC one of the best known sociologists in the world. He stayed in Chile until 1967 and then moved to Paris, staying there until 1968.
In early 1968, he returned to Brazil and passed a competition that turned him into a professor at USP. The granting of the AI-5, however, made him go compulsorily retired. FHC participated in the foundation of the Brazilian Center for Analysis and Planning (Cebrap) and started to support himself by teaching in private institutions in Brazil and abroad.
Political career of Fernando Henrique Cardoso
![FHC was a member of the Constituent Assembly that drafted the 1988 Constitution.[2]](/f/7e802dccf15fdfe4808aa678c3446773.jpg)
Fernando Henrique Cardoso entered his political career in the 1970s, after getting close to politicians from the Brazilian Democratic Movement (MDB). He ran for senator from the state of São Paulo and came in second after receiving more than 1.2 million votes. His placement guaranteed him the position of substitute.
When the emedebist, Franco Montoro, was elected governor of São Paulo, in 1982, FHC took over as senator. The inauguration of Fernando Henrique Cardoso took place on March 15, 1983, and he focused his efforts on seeking the country's redemocratization. He was directly involved with the campaign of Direct now.
In 1986, it was re-elected senator by São Paulo by receiving more than six million votes. The election of FHC and other PMDB members (the MDB had already received the name of PMDB) was the result of the party's great popularity due to the momentary success of the Cruzado Plan. After being reinstated, FHC became PMDB leader in the Senate and actively participated in the Constituent that elaborated the Citizen Constitution.
During the work of the constituents, a split within the PMDB led to the emergence of a new party: the Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB). FHC, then, abandoned the PMDB and joined the PSDB (the party in which he is still affiliated today). During the process of impeachment of Fernando Collor de Mello, FHC approached the deputy, the miner Itamar Franco, with the aim of articulating a new government agenda for Brazil with this.
With the inauguration of Itamar Franco, FHC was appointed to occupy the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, taking office on October 5, 1992.
Real plan
In May 1993, FHC was summoned by Itamar Franco to assume command of the Ministry of Finance. The challenge was big: stabilize the Brazilian economy after years of high inflation. FHC formed his ministry with a team of economists who implemented the FlatReal at different stages between 1993 and 1994.
After carrying out the plan in three stages, the Real was able to quickly stabilize the Brazilian economy and bring inflation under control. At the end of 1994, Brazilian inflation was only 1% per month. The success of Plano Real ended up projecting Fernando Henrique as the big favorite for the 1994 presidential election.
Accessalso: How does presidential inauguration work in Brazil?
FHC government
Favored by the success of Plano Real, FHC launched himself as a candidate for the presidency of Brazil and was elected in the first round with more than 34 million votes, corresponding to a total of approximately 55% of valid votes. The second place was squid, which received less than half of the total votes received by FHC.
FHC was sworn in as president on January 1, 1995, and his government was marked by initiatives to guarantee price stabilization and economic recovery. FHC's government carried out increases in taxes, cuts in public spending and sought to fill public coffers with money from the privatization of state-owned companies, with which it raised almost 80 billion dollars.
The FHC government was also marked by seeking to promote a regional integration by Mercosur and guaranteed some values practiced by Brazil with regard to foreign policy: pacifism and non-intervention. FHC tried to guarantee a permanent place for Brazil in the UN Security Council.
Created some social programs, highlighting the School bag, O Gas assistance it's the food bag. Fernando Henrique Cardoso ended up failing in trying to carry out the controlled devaluation of the real. The devaluation got out of control and the risk of economic destabilization returned to Brazil, causing the president's popularity to drop significantly.
In the second government, FHC's criticisms were consistent with the fact that the cost of living had risen and conditions for the poorest were getting worse. This second term was only possible because of a constitutional amendment that allowed FHC to run for reelection. He ended up winning with almost 36 million votes, corresponding to 53% of the valid votes.
FHC's fall in popularity was reinforced with the blackout crisis, a water crisis that resulted in a deep energy crisis. The blackout crisis was the result of mismanagement in the energy sector country, resulting in severe energy rationing. The impacts of the blackout were felt in the GDP and in public coffers.
The weakening of the PSDB at the turn of the millennium was noticeable to the point that the party's biggest opponent, the PT, conquered a large number of mayors in the country in 2000. In 2002, FHC was unable to get his successor elected and, as a result, Lula was elected in the second round with more than 52 million votes, corresponding to 61% of the valid votes.
Accessalso: Lula's government: the government that succeeded FHC's presidency
Fernando Henrique Cardoso's life after the presidency
FHC transferred the presidency of Brazil to Lula at the age of 70. Retired from politics, FHC continued to support himself with speeches at national and international events. In 2004, he acted in the foundation of the Fernando Henrique Cardoso Institute, aimed at preserving all the academic production carried out by the former president.
Private life of Fernando Henrique Cardoso
Fernando Henrique Cardoso is currently on his second marriage. your first marriage was to RuthCardoso, remaining married between 1953 and 2008. Cardoso's marriage to Ruth was interrupted by Ruth's death. From this marriage, FHC and Ruth had three children: Paulo Henrique, Luciana and Beatriz. FHC's wife was doctor in anthropology and had an extensive intellectual production throughout his life.
In 2014, FHC got married for the second time. his wife is called PatriciaKundrat and they met Instituto FHC, where Patrícia worked.
Image credits
[1] A.PAES/Shutterstock
[2] rafapress/Shutterstock
By Daniel Neves Silva
History teacher
