Emílio Garrastazu Médici
31st President of Brazil
In office October 30, 1969 – March 15, 1974
Vice President(s)	Augusto Rademaker
Preceded by	Military Junta
Succeeded by	Ernesto Geisel
Born	December 4 1905(1905--) Bagé, Rio Grande do Sul
Died	October 9 1985 (aged 79) Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro
Nationality	Brazilian
Political party	National Renewal Alliance Party - ARENA

Emílio Garrastazu Médici, pron. IPA: [e'milju gahasta'zu 'mɛdisi], (December 4, 1905 —October 9, 1985) was a Brazilian military leader and politician. His rule marked the apex of military governments in Brazil.

Early life

Médici was born in Bagé, Rio Grande do Sul state, he was the son of a family of Spanish and Italian descent, who were originally from Paysandú, Uruguay. In the 1920s he entered in the Army where he was steadily promoted, becoming general in 1961.

Médici was a close ally of Marshal Artur da Costa e Silva, who became president of Brazil in 1967. Also in this year Médici was appointed chief of the National Information Service (SNI).

Presidency

Two years later he become commandant of the Third Army when he was elected president of Brazil by the Congress, to succeed Costa e Silva, who was ill. Médici took oath on October 30, 1969 and served until the end of his term, March 15, 1974.

During his tenure, Médici established a strong military government, the more repressive of Brazil's military regimes, accompanied by tortures and strict censorship of the press. His rule generated urban guerilla activity, led by Carlos Marighela and Carlos Lamarca. The movement was eventually destroyed and Marighela and Lamarca killed.¹

The Brazilian economy grew rapidly at a rate of 10% per year during his term. Large construction projects were undertaken, including the Transamazônica road, the Itaipu dam and Rio-Niterói bridge.

Citations

¹ di Tella, Torcuato (2004). History of Political Parties in Twentieth-Century Latin America. Transaction, 107. 

See also

• List of Presidents of Brazil, History of Brazil (1964-present)
• 1964 Brazilian coup d'état

Presidents of Brazil
Old republic	Deodoro da Fonseca · Floriano Peixoto · Prudente de Morais · Campos Sales · Rodrigues Alves · Afonso Pena · Nilo Peçanha · Hermes da Fonseca · Venceslau Brás · Delfim Moreira · Epitácio Pessoa · Artur Bernardes · Washington Luís · Júlio Prestes · Mena Barreto · Isaías de Noronha
Vargas era	Augusto Fragoso · Getúlio Vargas · José Linhares
Republic of 1946	Eurico Gaspar Dutra · João Café Filho · Carlos Coimbra da Luz · Nereu de Oliveira · Juscelino Kubitschek · Jânio Quadros · Ranieri Mazzilli · João Goulart
Military dictatorship	Castelo Branco · Artur da Costa e Silva · Aurélio de Lira Tavares · Augusto Rademaker · Márcio Melo · Emílio Garrastazu Médici · Ernesto Geisel · João Baptista de Oliveira Figueiredo
New republic	Tancredo Neves · José Sarney · Fernando Collor · Itamar Franco · Fernando Henrique Cardoso · Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

Donate to Wikimedia