TIME: Almanac 1993/TIME Almanac 1993.iso/time/caps/85/85capts.18

Text File | 1992-09-25 | 6.1 KB | 119 lines

                                                                                January 28, 1985

BRAZIL

Victory for the "Great Conciliator"


President-elect Neves ends 21 years of military rule


In Rio de Janeiro and in Sao Paulo, ecstatic citizens showered
paper from office windows, leaned on their car horns and set
off firecrackers in the streets. In towns and villages across
the vast reaches of the country, Brazilians danced and swayed
to the tunes of countless samba bands. The occasion was the
election last week of Tancredo Neves as the nation's first
civilian President after 21 years of military rule. Neves, 74,
a lawyer and the former governor of Minas Gerais state, quickly
promised reform:  "I come to make urgent and courageous
political, social and economic changes indispensable to the
well-being of the people."  A hastily erected billboard in the
capital of Brasilia delivered themessage more succinctly:  GOOD
MORNING, DEMOCRACY.

The greeting was not entirely accurate:  Brazil's 131 million
people had no direct voice in Neves' selection. Both the
military, which had installed five army generals as President
since a 1964 coup, and the departing President, Joao
Figueiredo, instisted that the new leader be chosen by a
686-member electoral college made up of the chamber of Deputies,
the Senate and delegates from each of Brazil's 23 states.
Despite that, Neves, the nominee of the opposition Brazilian
Democratic Movement Party, tallied 480 votes to 180 for the
military-backed candidate of the ruling Democratic Social Party,
Paulo Salin Maluf, 53, a conservative, wealthy businessman.
Pledged Neves:  "This was the last indirect election of the
country."

The Brazilian constitution provides for a six-year presidential
term, but Neves has indicated that he will support direct
elections for 1988. After the balloting, he called for a
constituent assembly to redraft the constitution to permit a
popular vote. Despite the limited election, it seems clear
that Neves, who will take office on March 15, is a popular
choice. A poll published Friday in O Globo, an influential Rio
newspaper, showed that 66.6% of some 2,100 voters questioned in
eleven state capitals said they had confidence in him.

A slight, balding man with a melancholy mien, Neves confesses
that "the hope of the Brazilian people is so great it almost
crushes me."  In his first press conference the President-elect
vowed that "the first, the most important and the most absolute
of all the priorities of my government" would be to solve the
economic problems of Brazil's northeast. This is the most
backward region of the country; its inhabitants are so poor
that they are known as "the afflicted ones."  A recurrent theme
of the press conference was inflation, which is now increasing
at an annual rate of about 230%. Neves said that cuts in
public spending are vital, but vowed "not to commit the gross
mistake of using recession as a deflationary instrument. On the
contrary, we will promote the resumption of growth."

Unfortunately, Brazil's huge foreign debt of approximately $100
billion will continue to inhibit such expansion. Although the
country had a trade surplus of $13 billion last year, $10
billion of that amount had to be earmarked as the annual
interest due on the debt. Nonetheless Neves said that he is
opposed to the suggestion that Brazil declare a moratorium on
its international debts repayments. Said he:  "We must pay what
we owe. It is a debt of honor for the nation."

One of Neves' key economic advisers is Celso Furtado, a liberal
economist who was forced into exile by the military. To some,
Furtado's presence heralds and advent of a radical economic
policy. But that would be out of character for the moderate
Neves. Since his election to the city council of Sao Joao del
Rei in Minas Gerais at age 23, he has followed a cautious path
as congressman, Justic Minister, Interior Minister, senator,
Prime Minister and governor. "I have never made a friend from
whom I could not separate and I have never made an enemy that
I could not approach," he says. Neves' skill as the Great
Conciliator, as he is called, helped him weave the coalition of
left, center and right that assured his election.

The new leader's diplomatic skills will be on view in
Washington later this month when he meets with President Reagan.
An inevitable topic of discussion:  U.S. import limits on
Brazilian steel, textiles and shoes. The Reagan Administration,
which sees Neves' election as a vindication of its policy of
using friendly pressure to bring about change in authoritarian
governments, will hear pleas for easier Brazilian access to U.S.
markets. Whatever ensues in those discussions, Vice President
George Bush will probably attend Neves' inauguration.

The Brazilian military will continue to exercise influence over
some areas of government, including the armaments industry.
Unlike his neighbor Argentine President Raul Alfonsin, Neves
has indicated that he will not press for investigations of
corruption and human rights abuses that occurred while the
military was in power. Said the President-elect after his
victory:  "The nation is not the past but the future, which we
will build with the present."  In fact, the military tacitly
acceded to Neves' election several months ago. Outgoing
Presidnet Figueiredo had originally intended to handpick his
successor but then wavered. When the unpopular Maluf emerged
with the nomination of the ruling Democratic Social Party, key
party members deserted and backed Opposition Candidate Neves.

The President-elect failed to win the distinctive seal of
approval of one well-known Brazilian:  Jose Alves de Moura, an
eccentric publicity seeker known as the Kisser, whose aim in
life is to buss visiting clebrities, from Pope John Paul II to
Frank Sinatra. De Moura turned up in the Chamber of Deputies
as Neves was addressing the electoral college. Guards grabbed
De Moura and ejected him from the chamber before he could get
close enough to plant a kiss on Brazil's man of the year.


By Anastasia Toufexis. Reported by Gavin Scott/Brasillia.