Emílio Garrastazu Medici, successor of Artur da Costa e Silva, was the twentieth president of Brazil and the third of the Brazilian military regime (1964 to 1985). His government was marked in the history of the country as one of the toughest and most repressive.
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After Costa e Silva was removed for health reasons, in October 1969, Médici was appointed by the Army high command to assume the post of president of the republic.
The general assumes an already repressive Brazil, due to the measures of his predecessor, and hardens the regime even more.
After taking office, he consolidates the Federative Constitution of Brazil where the measures of the Institutional Act Number 5 (AI-5), responsible for closing the National Congress, assemblies and city councils.
Among other things, the AI-5 established the repression of popular movements, press censorship, embargo of union activities, suspension of political rights and the right to vote, among other restrictions on citizens.
Based on this, the government of Emílio Médici was marked by serious accusations of torture against political prisoners and students. During this period, the highest number of deaths by military dictatorship Brazilian.
On the other hand, the great commercial benefit of the government was the so-called “economic miracle”. The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) increased a lot and the middle class saw its income increase considerably.
Due to the broad incentives, many multinationals have settled here. There was also the creation of some state-owned companies, such as Infraero and Embrapa.
At the expense of a staggering increase in the foreign debt, at that time major Brazilian works were built, such as the Rio-Niterói Bridge, the Paulínia refinery and the Ilha Solteira hydroelectric plant.
The construction of large highways also had its space, with the conception of the Transamazônica and the roads that connected Manaus – AM to Porto Velho – RO and Cuiabá – MT to Santarém – PA.
The general's government ended on March 15, 1974, when another general, Ernesto Geisel, assumed the post of President of the Republic.
Emílio Garrastazu Médici was born on December 4, 1905, in the city of Bagé, in Rio Grande do Sul.
A career military man, the general held the highest positions in the Brazilian Army, one of his most notorious titles being head of the Academia Militar das Agulhas Negras (AMAN).
In politics, he effectively participated in the rise of Getúlio Vargas to power, through the movement of 1930. In addition, he was a strong opponent of the Constitutionalist movement of 1932.
In 1967 he was head of the National Information Service (SNI) and when he was nominated for president, he commanded the III Army of Rio Grande do Sul.
His best-known performance was as president of the republic, a position he held between 1969 and 1974, at the height of the military dictatorship.
He died in 1985, aged 79, in the city of Rio de Janeiro - RJ, as a result of problems caused by a stroke.
