Traditional political of Goiás, Iris Rezende he took several terms as mayor of Goiânia, in addition to being governor of the state of Goiás on two occasions. He entered politics in the 1950s and became an important figure, reaching positions in the governments of José Sarney and Fernando Henrique Cardoso.
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Summary about Iris Rezende
Son of a farmer, Iris Rezende was born in Cristianópolis, Goiás, in 1933.
He moved to Goiânia in the late 1940s, the city where he studied.
He majored in law and entered politics in the 1950s.
He held functions as councilor, state deputy, mayor, senator and governor.
He took on ministerial portfolios under José Sarney and FHC.
She died at age 87 after a stroke.
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Youth of Iris Rezende
Iris Rezende Machado was born in the city of Cristianópolis, in the interior of Goiás, on December 22, 1933, and died on November 9, 2021, at the age of 87, in the city of São Paulo.
Iris' parents were the farmer Filostro Machado Carneiro and the housewife Genoveva Rezende Machado. Much of Iris Rezende's childhood and adolescence was spent at Fazenda Canastra.
When Iris was born, her father did not own a farm, but worked producing bricks and tiles. Gradually, her father was able to buy some land and, thus, the Fazenda Canastra emerged – which was sold by Iris' father in the late 1940s. Iris had four brothers: Orlando, Jairo, Otoniel and Iracema.
At the age of 16, Iris Rezende moved to Campinas, a neighborhood in the city of Goiânia, and there she enrolled at the Technical School of Goiânia. According to historian Cileide Alves, the politician from Goiás believes that his time in Campinas was crucial for his adaptation to Goiânia. Before becoming a neighborhood in Goiânia, Campinas was an autonomous city — it was annexed by the capital of Goiás in the 1930s — and had a more “interior” feel|1|.
Iris Rezende's entry into politics
According to Iris Rezende himself, his entry into politics was set when he was 22 years old. and this was a decision made after the experience he had with student unions in schools where he studied in Goiania. Iris' entry into politics did not please his father, who wanted his son to be involved in the family business.
THE Iris's first election dispute took place in 1958, when he applied to city councilor in Goiania. He was affiliated with the Brazilian Labor Party, the PTB. In her political education process, Iris wanted to study law and, for that, she enrolled at the Faculty of Law at the Federal University of Goias. He completed the course in 1960.
In 1959, he took over as councilor for Goiânia and remained in office until 1962. In 1963, he assumed the position of state deputy — after winning the state election as the most voted candidate in the state. By that time he had left the PTB and joined the Social Democratic Party, the PSD.
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Iris Rezende as mayor of Goiânia
In 1965, Iris Rezende was elected mayor of Goiânia by the PSD and the dispute for the position was intense, especially because the military government, at the time in the hands of Humberto Castello Branco, wanted to elect Juca Ludovico — opponent of Iris. A fact that weighed against Iris in the dispute was his refusal to collaborate with the military to overthrow Mauro Borges from the Goiás government in 1964.
In this dispute, Iris received a total of 29,912 votes, while Juca Ludovico received 18,652. Iris was only 32 at the time, and her victory was yet another demonstration that her political career was on the rise, because he had been the most voted candidate in the councilor and state deputy races and had been elected in his first race for the town hall.
Iris took office in January 1966 and her management at the city hall was marked.The for the joint efforts for build affordable houses. Iris Rezende himself participated in the construction work for the houses. This action by Iris is understood by historians as an attempt to gain popularity in an adverse scenario — that of the dheight.
The way Iris governs bothered his opponents, precisely because he was becoming more and more prestigious by the population. Iris' success as mayor of Goiânia made the military invite him to join to Arena, the party of the military during the dictatorship, but Iris did not accept the invitation.
His popular management and the rejection of the invitation to join the Arena made Iris become a target of the military, so, in 1969, he was revokedand lost his political rights for 10 years.
Iris Rezenden's performance during the redemocratization period
After being impeached by the dictatorship, Iris temporarily withdrew from politics and pursued a career in law. the sme political rights were re-established in 1979, a moment when the country's opening process was gaining strength. With the opening, Iris decided to return to politics and joined the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party, the PMDB.
Iris's return to politics was in style, as her party decided to nominate him in the dispute for the government of Goiás in 1982. He defeated Otávio Lage of the Social Democratic Party (PDS), winning 67% of the vote. Iris took up her new public office in early 1983.
on two occasions and mayor of Goiânia on four occasions.[2]
His term as governor had marks similar to those of the period in which he was Mayor: carried out joint efforts to build houses and earned a reputation as a good finance manager. During his tenure as governor, Iris was marked by speaking in one of the caravans of the Direct now, the popular movement in defense of the Dante de Oliveira Amendment, which defended the return of direct presidential elections.
This happened during a rally that took place in Goiânia, in 1984. THE Goiás capital was chosen to receive O firstOrally of the Directs Already. After the amendment was defeated, Iris campaigned for the election of Tancredo Neves. The choice of the president was indirect, but the objective of the campaign was to popularize the Minas Gerais candidacy among the Brazilian population.
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Iris Rezende in the New Republic
In the New Republic, a period that began with the end of the Military Dictatorship, in 1985, Iris achieved the peak of his political career, from the point of view of its national projection. He assumed the Ministry of Agriculture, during the government of president José Sarney, and the Justice folder, during the government of Fernando Henrique Cardoso.
He was still elected governor of Goiás again, in the 1990 election, and was elected senator for Goiás in 1994. In the late 1990s, he was defeated by Marconi Perillo in the dispute for the government of Goiás. Iris' last years as a public manager were related to Goiânia.
He was elected mayor of Goiânia in 2004 and 2008, leaving office in 2010 to run for governor, being defeated again by Marconi Perillo. In 2016, he competed for the mayor of Goiânia again and, once again, was victorious. In 2020, at the age of 86, he could have run for re-election for the mayor of Goiânia, but he decided to retire from politics.
Death
Iris Rezende died on November 9, 2021, in São Paulo/SP. He was hospitalized for three months after suffering a Cerebral Vascular Accident (CVA). Three days before his death, he was intubated to treat pneumonia, but his health failed.
Iris Rezende's family chose to hold the wake and burial in Goiânia, the city where she lived and where she spent a good part of her political life.
Grades
|1| CUNHA, Cileide Alves. Endorsement of the Past: Iris Rezende – memory and politics (1958-1982). Masters dissertation. Goiânia: Federal University of Goiás, Faculty of Human Sciences and Philosophy, 2008, p. 44.
Image credits:
[1] Rose Brazil/ABr
[2] FGV/CPDOC
