Itamarfranc he was an important Brazilian politician who developed his political career in Minas Gerais. He was elected senator for Minas Gerais and participated in important events in recent Brazilian history, such as the 1987 Constituent Assembly. He was elected vice president in 1989, and assumed the presidency in 1992 with Collor's impeachment.
Accessalso: José Sarney's government - the first government after the dictatorship
Summary about Itamar Franco
Itamar Franco was born on the high seas, was registered in Bahia, but grew up in Minas Gerais.
His first job in politics was as mayor of Juiz de Fora.
He defended the Dante de Oliveira amendment and served in the 1987 Constituent Assembly.
He was elected vice president in the 1989 election.
He became president in late 1992 after Collor's impeachment.
Birth of Itamar Franco
Itamar Augusto Cautiero Franco was born on June 28, 1930. Regarding his birth, the information may be mismatched, as he born on the high seas, when his mother was taking a ship from Rio de Janeiro to Salvador. However, her birth registration was done in
savior, on the same day he was born.In addition, there is some divergence about the former president's year of birth, as some records claim that it was 1929, and others that it was 1931, but the most accepted information is that he was born in 1930. his father, augustCaesar franc, he died a few months before his birth.
ItalyCauteryfranc, his mother, raised him in Juiz de Fora, a city in the interior of Minas Gerais. It was in this city in Minas Gerais that Itamar Franco graduated, taking primary and secondary courses between 1935 and 1948. Still in Juiz de Fora, Itamar graduated engineer, completing his course at the School of Engineering of Juiz de Fora, in 1954.
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Itamar Franco's political career
Itamar Franco began his political career in 1954, the same year he completed his graduation. Your first political experience was as councilor of Juiz de Fora, running for the Brazilian Labor Party, the PTB. Itamar Franco was unable to be elected. In 1960, he ran for mayor in the same city, but was also defeated.
It was only in the period of Military dictatorship is that his career took off. He joined the Brazilian Democratic Movement, the MDB, and managed to get elected mayor of Juiz de Fora, in two terms. Altogether, Itamar Franco occupied the mayor of Juiz de Fora from 1967 to 1974, but left the position to run for new positions.
In 1974 he ran for senate by the MDB, getting the job and being one of the 16 senators his party elected that year. In the Senate, Itamar Franco was part of the front of politicians who defended the return of democracy to the country. He advocated a shift to parliamentarism, and in the 1978 presidential election he supported Euler Bentes, the candidate defeated by João Figueiredo.
The democratic opening of the country made the MDB to become the PMDB, the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party. In 1982, he was reelected to the Senate by the PMDB, but since then he has lost strength within the party. This happened because he was a defender of Direct now.
In the PMDB there were many who did not support the amendment because they supported a possible candidacy for the presidency of Tancredo Neves by indirect vote. The disagreement between Itamar Franco and party members weakened the possibility of choosing him as a candidate for the government of Minas Gerais.
This weakening opened the possibility for Newton Cardoso to be nominated as the party's candidate. Then Itamar Franco left the PMDB and joined the Liberal Party, the PL. In the dispute for the government, he was defeated by Newton Cardoso himself by a very small difference. In this election, voting ended as follows:
Newton Cardoso: 47.12%
Itamar Franco: 42.21%
Accessalso: Fernando Henrique Cardoso – one of the most traditional politicians of the 20th century
Performance of Itamar Franco in the 1987 Constituent Assembly
After he was defeated in the dispute for the government of Minas Gerais, Itamar Franco resumed his position as senator and acted in one of the most important moments in the recent history of Brazil. He was one of the constituents in the elaboration of the 1988 Constitution, supporting measures such as:
Right to vote at age 16;
Nationalization of the country's underground;
Disruption of diplomatic relations with countries that promote racial segregation;
Land reform.
If you are more interested in the topic of this topic, read: 1987 Constituent Assembly.
Participation of Itamar Franco in the Collor government
In 1989, Itamar Franco received an invitation that promoted a major turnaround in his political career. Fernando Collor, presidential candidate by the inexpressive National Reconstruction Party (PRN), called him to compose his ticket as vice. Itamar accepted the invitation and, therefore, had to leave the PL to join the PRN.
The choice of Itamar Franco fulfilled two roles very important to Fernando Collor, as it would help him to win votes in Minas Gerais, one of the most important electoral zones in the country. In addition, a politician with a statist character, such as Itamar Franco, would lessen suspicions about Collor, an openly liberal politician.
Collor and Itamar came out victorious in this election, getting 53% of votes in the second round. Once in office, they never fully understood each other, and the relationship between president and vice became bad to the point that Itamar Franco broke with the PRN. It is important to remember that this disagreement was the result of the ideological differences between the two. To learn more about this controversial period in the history of Brazilian democracy, read: Collor government.
Itamar Franco government
In 1992, Itamar Franco became president of Brazil after accusations of corruption having had Fernando Collor investigated. Within the National Congress, many began to defend Collor's removal and the appointment of Itamar Franco in his place. On October 2, 1992, Collor was removed from the presidency.
Thereby, Itamar Franco became interim president do Brasil and continued like this until September 29, 1992, when Collor suffered impeachment. From then on, Itamar was the de facto president of Brazil. His government had a big problem to solve that had dragged on since the 1980s: the inflation.
Despite an initial failure, Itamar handed over the Ministry of Finance in the hands of Fernando Henrique Cardoso, giving freedom for him and his team to put together a plan to restructure the Brazilian economy: the Real plan. Through this plan, the Brazilian economy was stabilized and inflation dropped as soon as it was inaugurated, in 1994. To learn more about the topic of this topic, read our text: Itamar Franco government.
Itamar Franco's last years
After the presidency, Itamar Franco did not abandon politics. Between 1995 and 1996, he assumed the post of ambassador of Brazil in Portugal. In 1998, he ran for the government of Minas Gerais for the PMDB, and won in the second round, winning more than 57% of the votes. This time, following only one term.
In 2010, Itamar Franco ran again for the position of senator by Minas Gerais, and managed to get elected by obtaining almost 27% of the votes. He spent a few months in the role, as he passed away on July 2, 2011, victim of leukemia. The vacancy left by him was occupied by Zezé Perrella.
Image credits
[1] FGV/CPDOC
By Daniel Neves Silva
History teacher
