Ernesto Geisel
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| Image:Geisel.jpg</small> | |
| Term of office: | March 15, 1974–March 15, 1979 |
|---|---|
| Predecessor: | Emílio Garrastazú Médici |
| Successor: | João Figueiredo |
| Date of birth: | August 3, 1908 |
| Place of birth: | Bento Gonçalves, Rio Grande do Sul |
| Date of death: | September 12, 1996 |
| Place of death: | Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro |
| Party: | National Renewal Alliance Party - ARENA |
Ernesto Beckmann Geisel (August 3, 1908 - September 12, 1996) was a Brazilian military leader and politician.
The son of Lutheran German immigrants, Geisel entered the army early and was the first of his class when he graduated from the Military College of Porto Alegre in 1925. Geisel witnessed and participated in the most prominent events of Brazilian history in the 20th century, such as the revolution of 1930, the Getúlio Vargas dictatorship and the 1964 military coup d'état that overthrew the leftist President João Goulart. In this military intervention, Geisel was an important figure and he became Military chief of Staff of President Humberto de Alencar Castelo Branco.
Also in 1964 he became Lieutenant-General and in 1966 a 4 star-General. In 1969 he was made president of Petrobras, the state-owned oil company of Brazil.
Presidency
In 1973 Geisel was appointed by President Emílio Garrastazú Médici and other military leaders to be the candidate of the National Renewal Alliance Party (ARENA) for the presidency. At that time, the president of Brazil was chosen by the military and then approved by the Congress in order to give an impression of free elections. Geisel was elected by a vast majority and was inaugurated on March 15, 1974 for a five-year mandate.
From 1968 to 1973, the Brazilian economy grew at a rate of more than 10% per year, the fastest in the world. But due to the oil shock crisis in 1974, development fell to 5%-6% per year. Because oil had to be imported, Brazil's foreign debt began to rise.
In the early 1970s, the radical leftists were tortured or even murdered, while the press was censored. By 1974 signals of guerrilla activities were silenced.
The official opposition against the government, the Brazilian Democratic Movement (MDB), gained many votes in the legislative elections of 1974. As a result, Geisel began a slow process of democratization, called distensão. The military regime's main censorship tool, the Fifth Institutional Act (which Geisel had often used), was banned in the end of 1978. During the Geisel administration, Brazil imported technology from Germany to install nuclear power plants.
In 1978 Geisel appointed General João Baptista de Oliveira Figueiredo as his successor. He left office on March 15, 1979.
See also
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