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Artur da Costa e Silva | |
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(2).jpg) Official portrait, 1968 | |
| 27th President of Brazil | |
| In office 15 March 1967 – 31 August 1969 Leave of absence 31 August 1969 – 14 October 1969 | |
| Vice President | Pedro Aleixo |
| Preceded by | Castelo Branco |
| Succeeded by | |
| Minister of War | |
| In office 4 April 1964 – 30 June 1966 | |
| President | Ranieri Mazzilli Castelo Branco |
| Preceded by | Dantas Ribeiro |
| Succeeded by | Ademar de Queirós |
| Minister of Mines and Energy | |
| In office 4 April 1964 – 17 April 1964 | |
| President | Ranieri Mazzilli |
| Preceded by | Oliveira Brito |
| Succeeded by | Mauro Thibau |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1899-10-03)3 October 1899 Taquari,Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil |
| Died | 17 December 1969(1969-12-17) (aged 70) Rio de Janeiro,Guanabara, Brazil |
| Party | ARENA (1966–1969) |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 1 |
| Alma mater | Military School of Realengo Army General Staff School |
| Signature |  |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  Brazil |
| Branch/service |  Brazilian Army |
| Years of service | 1921–1967 |
| Rank | Field Marshal |
| Commands | See list
|
| Battles/wars | |
Artur da Costa e Silva (Portuguese:[aʁˈtuʁdɐˈkɔstɐiˈsiwvɐ]; 3 October 1899 – 17 December 1969) was aBrazilian Army Marshal and the secondpresident of theBrazilian military government that came to power after the1964 coup d'état. He reached the rank ofMarshal of theBrazilian Army, and held the post of Minister of War in the military government of presidentCastelo Branco.
His administration, following the enactment ofInstitutional Act 5 (AI-5), marked the beginning of theharshest and most brutal phase of the military dictatorship, which was continued by GeneralEmílio Garrastazu Médici, his successor. AI-5 granted him the power to shut down theNational Congress, remove politicians from office, and institutionalize repression in response to the growing opposition to the regime. This repression was carried out through both legal and illegal means, including the torture of civilians.[1]
Costa e Silva's government was also characterized by a 15.72% growth inGDP (an average of 7.86%) and a 10.68% increase in per capita income (an average of 5.34%), thanks to the Government Economic Action Program (PAEG). Costa e Silva took office with inflation at 25.01% and left it at 19.31%, during a period known as theBrazilian economic miracle, which lasted from 1968 to 1973.[2]
Costa e Silva was born inTaquari inRio Grande do Sul state on 3 October 1899. While several sources erroneously suggest that Costa e Silva's parents were Portuguese fromMadeira, both his parents were Brazilians, although one of his great-grandparents was a Portuguese immigrant fromLisbon.[3]
Costa e Silva began his military career by entering the Military College ofPorto Alegre, where he finished first of his class and commander of the cadet corps. He then entered theMilitary School of Realengo inRio de Janeiro in 1918, where he finished third of his class. Made anaspirant on January 18, 1921, he was commissioned2nd Lieutenant in 1922 and was stationed with the 1st Infantry Regiment in Vila Militar until 5 July 1922, when he was involved inTenentist rebellion and imprisoned for six months. He then married Iolanda Barbosa Costa e Silva, an officer's daughter.
As part of a joint program, he was trained in theUnited States of America from January to June 1944, after having been an assistant instructor of general tactics at the School for Command and the Army General-Staff. He served as amilitary attaché inArgentina from 1950 to 1952, and was then appointed to command the 3rd Military Region (Rio Grande do Sul) from 1957 to 1959, and to command of the 4th Army (Pernambuco) from August 1961 to September 1962. He was then appointed chief of the General Personnel Department and later the chief of the Department of Production and Works.
Costa e Silva was promoted togeneral on 2 August 1952, and reached rank ofArmy General on 25 November 1961.
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During the presidency ofJoão Goulart, Costa e Silva put down left-wing student demonstrations that broke out in theNortheast and subsequently was removed from command of the 4th Army.
By the end of 1963 he actively participated in the plot that overthrew Goulart, who was accused of aligning with Communists during theCold War tension. After the1964 Brazilian coup d'état Costa e Silva was appointed the Minister of War on 1 April 1964, and remained in that post during the presidency ofCastelo Branco.
As Minister of War, Costa e Silva defended interests of hard-liners, the ultra-right faction of the Armed Forces. As such he was considered an acceptable candidate to succeed Castelo Branco, who was judged to be too liberal. This also served well to isolate from power more moderate soldiers – such as future PresidentErnesto Geisel and his future chief aideGolbery do Couto e Silva.
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Under the Constitution of 1967, the president was to be elected indirectly, by an absolute majority of both houses of Congress. Costa e Silva was nominated as the candidate of the military-backedNational Renewal Alliance Party (ARENA); he was the only candidate. In any event, ARENA's dominance of Congress was so absolute that the presidential campaign essentially ended with Costa e Silva's nomination. He was duly elected on 3 October 1966, by a vote of 295–0, with 41 abstentions and 136 members not voting. He was sworn in on 15 March 1967.
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While Costa e Silva was campaigning for the presidency of the republic, he barely escaped death during a left-wing guerrilla attack atGuararapes International Airport inRecife on 25 July 1966. The attack happened while he was waiting with around 300 other people at the airport. Since the airplane that was supposed to take him had broken down earlier that day inJoão Pessoa, Costa e Silva decided to leave Recife by automobile, thereby avoiding the assault which left several men dead or injured in what became known as theAttack of the Guararapes.
As president, he outlawed the Broad Front (Frente Ampla), an opposition movement that had brought together politicians from the pre-1964 period. He fought against inflation, revised government salaries and enlarged foreign trade. He also began a reform of the administrative organs, expanded the communication and transportation systems, but failed to resolve the problems in the education system. His time in power initiated the "Brazilian Miracle" – a growth rate ranging from 9–10% per year.
In 1968 the death of collegesophomoreEdson Luís de Lima Souto in a confrontation with a police officer provoked a massive protest (The One Hundred Thousand March) in Rio de Janeiro. The political situation worsened in August, when CongressmanMárcio Moreira Alves suggested in a speech that young women should refuse to dance with military cadets in an act of protest against the military regime. The government asked the National Congress to prosecute the deputy. This was too much even for the ARENA-dominated legislature, which turned down the request. Costa e Silva then convened the Council of National Security and enacted theInstitutional Act 5. It gave him the power to close Congress or any state legislature, rule by decree, dismiss state governors, and suspend citizens' political rights. It also instituted heavy-handed censorship, abolishedhabeas corpus for political crimes, and gave the federal government nearly unlimited authority to intervene in state and local affairs. Almost as soon as Costa e Silva signed this decree, he used its provisions to close Congress, as well as the legislatures of all states exceptSão Paulo, and assumed full legislative powers. For all intents and purposes, AI-5 placed Brazil under a tight dictatorship. Congress remained shuttered for the remainder of Costa e Silva's term.
Armed resistance against Costa e Silva's government intensified in 1968. The most noticeable act of resistance took place on 26 June 1968, when Diógenes José Carvalho de Oliveira, Pedro Lobo de Oliveira and José Ronaldo Tavares de Lira e Silva, members of an eleven-man cell that was part of the People's Revolutionary Vanguard (VPR), managed to detonate a bomb at the General Headquarters of the 2nd Army inSão Paulo. The car-bomb was launched without a driver towards the compound's front gate. The guards fired on the vehicle, which hit the external wall of the headquarters. Mário Kozel Filho, a soldier who was completing his compulsory military service and serving as a sentry on that day, left his post and ran towards the vehicle, trying to see if anyone was trapped inside. At that moment the car, filled with 50 kilograms ofdynamite, exploded, damaging everything within a 300-meter radius around it. Kozel's body was ripped to pieces from the force of the explosion, and six other soldiers were seriously wounded. In response to this action, the government intensified its repressive and subversive activities.
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After suddenly suffering a cerebralthrombosis, Costa e Silva was removed from duties on 31 August 1969. Although civilian Vice PresidentPedro Aleixo should have succeeded him, the three armed forces ministers instead took power as amilitary junta under the 12th Institutional Act. Costa e Silva legally remained president until 14 October when he was formally removed from office by the 16th Institutional Act. Costa e Silva died at 15:40 BRT on 17 December of that same year, after suffering a heart attack. The government declared eight days ofnational mourning and astate funeral was held the following day. All public functions and official activities have been suspended on the day of the burial. Costa e Silva's body was laid to rest in theCemitério de São João Batista in Rio de Janeiro, havinglain in state in theLaranjeiras Palace.[4][5][6][7]
Taking advantage of the opportunity, the military junta introduced new amendments to the 1967 Constitution that gave the already highly authoritarian document an even more repressive tone. Despite this, it was less repressive than the AI-5. Shortly after this "Constitutional Amendment no. 1", sometimes referred to as theConstitution of 1969, was passed into law by the junta, Congress was summoned from its two-year recess and charged with electing a successor. GeneralEmílio Garrastazu Médici was the sole candidate, and was elected unanimously.
Due to the heavy press censorship of the time, many people did not accept the official version of events about Costa e Silva's illness, instead believing that he had been removed by the more conservative elements of the military regime. Regardless of such theories, there is no proof that Costa e Silva was anything else but seriously ill at the time of his removal.
Grand Cross of theMilitary Order of Christ (Portugal, November 13, 1965)[8]
Grand Cross of theOrder of the Tower and Sword (Portugal, August 4, 1967)[9]
Grand Cross of theOrder of St. Olav (Norway, September 6, 1967)
Honorary Knight Grand Cross of The Most HonourableOrder of the Bath (United Kingdom, November 5, 1968)| Political offices | ||
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| Preceded by | President of Brazil 1967–1969 | Succeeded by Pedro Aleixo (de jure) |
