Elections In the two elections that were held during the Médici government,
ARENA, the party that supported the military dictatorship, was largely victorious, winning 19 senators against 3 for the
MDB in 1970, and almost all the mayors and councillors in Brazil in 1972. The three most important ministers in his government were Delfim Neto, who was in charge of the economy,
João Leitão de Abreu, the political coordinator, and
Orlando Geisel, responsible for combating
subversion.
Economy His government was marked by economic growth during the Brazilian Miracle and the rise of the lower and middle classes. Consumption of durable goods and the production of automobiles increased greatly. In 1972, color television began operating in Brazil. Record economic growth, low inflation and development projects such as the
Programa de Integração Nacional (
English: National Integration Program - PIN), which allowed for the construction of the Santarém-Cuiabá, Perimetral Norte,
Trans-Amazonian highways and the
Rio-Niterói Bridge, as well as major tax incentives for industry and agriculture, were the most notable aspects of the period. Popular housing was also built at this time through the
Banco Nacional da Habitação. During his administration, an agreement was reached with Paraguay for the construction of the
Itaipu Dam. The $3 billion cost of the project would be assumed entirely by Brazil through financing, while Paraguay's share would be paid for by exporting electricity to Brazil.
Advertising and press freedom Médici governed under the
1967 Constitution, which had been modified by the
1969 military junta a few months before his inauguration to become more repressive. His administration used torture and restricted censorship of the press. Importation of the men's magazines
Playboy,
Penthouse and
Lui, as well as the German news magazine
Der Spiegel, were banned because they offended "morals and proper behavior". The Médici government spent millions of
cruzeiros on propaganda to encourage patriotism in support of the military dictatorship and created the slogan '''' ("Brazil, love it or leave it"). In 1969, when the National Congress was reopened by order of Médici, the government leader,
Daniel Krieger, resigned and was replaced by Senator
Filinto Müller, a former participant and deserter from the
Prestes Column, former police chief of Rio de Janeiro during the
Estado Novo (responsible for arresting
Olga Benário Prestes on orders from
Getúlio Vargas) and former leader of the
PSD in the Senate during the
Juscelino Kubitschek government.
Social policy The Médici government created the
PIS/PASEP and the
Programa de Assistência Rural (English: Rural Assistance Program - PRORURAL), linked to FUNRURAL, which provided retirement benefits and increased health services, formerly scarce for rural workers. It also established the
Movimento Brasileiro de Alfabetização (Brazilian Moviment of Literation
- MOBRAL), designed to improve adult literacy, and the
Projeto Rondon (
Rondon Project), focused on improving living conditions in the
Amazon with the participation of young university students. In 1970, it created the
National Institute for Colonization and Agrarian Reform (INCRA) and the Department of Education and Research of the Army (DEP), now known as the Department of Education and Culture of the Army (DECEx). Other welfare projects launched during his administration include: the
Programa de Redistribuição de Terras e de Estímulo à Agroindústria do Norte e Nordeste (English: Land Redistribution and Agroindustry Stimulus Program for the North and Northeast - PROTERRA), in 1971; the
Programa Especial para o Vale do São Francisco (Special Program for the São Francisco Valley - PROVALE), in 1972; the
Programa de Polos Agropecuários e Agrominerais da Amazônia (Amazon Agricultural and Agro-mineral Hubs Program - POLAMAZÔNIA), in 1974; and the
Programa de Desenvolvimento de Áreas Integradas do Nordeste (Northeast Integrated Areas Development Program - POLONORDESTE), in 1974. In 1972, the
Sixth Centenary of Brazil's Independence was celebrated and the remains of Emperor
Pedro I were brought from Lisbon to São Paulo. Médici created the
Order of Precedence in Brazil and signed the
Public Records Law the following year.
Fighting guerrillas The Médici government, supported by Institutional Act Number Five of December 1968, was responsible for eliminating rural and urban communist
guerrillas. The opposition became armed, with bank robberies, attacks on the military, kidnappings of officials and guerrilla training. The confidential report produced by the
Aeronautics Security and Information Center (CISA) on March 9, 1972, revealed that President Emílio Médici was going to be bombed during a meeting in Rio with the presidents of Argentina and Uruguay. Another report from CISA showed that Gama e Silva, Minister of Justice in the Costa e Silva government, would also be the subject of an attack. The command of the political police in the army was centralized and control of repression was assigned to the Minister of the Army,
Orlando Geisel. In September 1970, the
Information Operations Detachments (DOIs) were created. Accusations of torture against the government increased: there were 308 between 1964 and 1968, 1027 in 1969 and 1206 in 1970. The guerrilla student
Chael Charles Schreier, a member of the armed organization
VAR-Palmares, opened fire on the police and was arrested in November 1969. He was tortured at the
Army Police Barracks because the Army Central Hospital would not accept him as "alive". The bodies of those killed under torture were never handed over to their families. Communist guerrilla
Mário Alves de Souza Vieira, a communications specialist at the Lenin School in the
Soviet Union, was the first to go missing, on January 17, 1970. The
Castelo Branco government had arrested him in 1964 and released him on habeas corpus in 1965. In 1966, he advocated armed violence in the "
Corrente Revolucionária" and had his political rights revoked for 10 years. Between April 11 and 12, 1968, "favourable to an armed struggle strategy", he founded the
Revolutionary Brazilian Communist Party, whose inaugural resolution foresaw "the outbreak of urban and rural guerrilla warfare". According to
Jacob Gorender, Mário Alves was seen in the
Brazilian Communist Party as a coup plotter against the party. Also in 1970, four other citizens disappeared, all seen in army dependencies. In 1970, 29 people linked to armed organizations were killed; in 1971, 46.
Kidnappings during the regime Between 1969 and 1970, four kidnappings affected the military dictatorship, creating diplomatic embarrassment on the international stage and inflicting a major political defeat. In September 1969, the US ambassador
Charles Burke Elbrick was
captured by members of the National Liberation Action (ALN) and the 8th October Revolutionary Movement (MR-8), two of the main armed groups opposed to the dictatorial regime. The kidnappers demanded the reading of a revolutionary manifesto on national television and the release of 15 political prisoners in exchange for Elbrick's freedom. On September 7, Elbrick was released by the hostages. In 1970, the Japanese consul Nobuo Okushi, the German ambassador
Ehrenfried Anton Theodor Ludwig Von Holleben and the Swiss ambassador
Giovanni Enrico Bucher were also kidnapped by the Revolutionary Popular Vanguard and National Liberation Action. The logistics of the abductions revealed the offensive ability of the armed groups and forced the military regime to intensify its persecution and repression of those who opposed the dictatorship, acting violently, killing, torturing and annihilating any resistance once and for all.
Guerrilla groups defeated during the Médici government • 1966–1971:
Revolutionary Popular Vanguard (VPR) • 1967–1969:
National Liberation Command (COLINA) • 1967–1972:
8th October Revolutionary Movement (MR8) • 1967–1973:
National Liberation Action (ALN) • 1969–1972:
Palmares Armed Revolutionary Vanguard (VAR-Palmares) • 1970–1971: Popular Liberation Movement (Molipo) == Foreign policy ==