Despite the frustration caused by the continuation of indirect elections, Brazil ended the military regime focusing its expectations on the arrival of the civilian Tancredo Neves to the presidential post. However, on March 15, 1985, news reports reported that the next president had to be rushed to Brasília hospital. In his place, Vice President José Sarney climbed the plateau ramp and received the presidential sash. On April 21, the death of Tancredo Neves imposed the heroicization of this politician as a martyr for Brazilian democracy.
The arrival of José Sarney was surrounded by strong suspicions. This is because Sarney was part of a traditional wing of Northeastern politicians who collaborated with the military regime, and who later joined parties with a more conservative tendency. In the strongholds of the political opposition, slogans such as: "The people don't forget, Sarney is PDS" and "Sarney can't, direct now", showed that the new president would have a difficult mission in trying to rebuild the democratic pact of the battered nation. Brazilian.
With regard to the redemocratization project, we can point out that the Sarney administration achieved an expressive victory with the approval of the 1988 Constitution. Despite its length and detail, the country's new Magna Carta managed to wipe out several mechanisms that supported the authoritarian regime. The end of censorship, free party organization, the return of direct elections and the division of powers are just some of the achievements that marked this event. From a formal point of view, the country finally abandoned the wounds of the dictatorial period.
If the Constitution represented an important victory in the political field, we cannot say the same when we look at the performance of the Sarney government in the economic sphere. Initially, we had a great euphoria fueled by the implementation of the Cruzado Plan. Using price controls, the plan managed to achieve a timid distribution of income and promoted an increase in the population's consumption. However, euphoria was followed by a breakdown in the production sector and a lack of essential products.
Throughout the government, other plans (Plano Bresser and Plano Verão) tried to carry out other maneuvers to recover the Brazilian economy. However, such actions did not manage to curb the exorbitant inflation rates that assail the wages of a large part of Brazilian workers. Thus, the 1989 elections entered the scene with the expectation of choosing an elected candidate by direct vote, which could resolve the economic and social tensions that gripped the four corners of the parents.
By Rainer Sousa
Master in History
