How to Pronounce José Sarney
#50
Most Popular
Boost
Apr 24, 1930 Pinheiro, Maranhão, Brazil 94 years old
Brazilian politician
TaurusJosé Sarney - Place of Birth, Date of Birth, Age, Wiki, Facts, Net Worth, Birthday, Biography and Family
José Sarney, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Family, Facts, Age, Net Worth, Biography and More in FamedBorn.com
About José Sarney
- José Sarney de Araújo Costa (Portuguese pronunciation: [?u'z? sa?'nej d?i a?a'u?u 'k?st?]; born José Ribamar Ferreira de Araújo Costa; April 24, 1930) is a Brazilian politician, lawyer, and writer who served as 31st President of Brazil from April 21, 1985 to March 15, 1990.
- At age 89, he is the oldest living former Brazilian president, and, as of the death of João Figueiredo in 1999, one of only two living former president not elected by direct vote; the other is Michel Temer. Sarney ascended in the politics of his home state of Maranhão as part of the "Bossa Nova Generation" of UDN politicians in the 1950s, young idealists seeking to reorganize public administration and rid the government of corruption and old deleterious practices.
- During the Brazilian military dictatorship, which imposed a two-party system, Sarney affiliated himself with the government party, ARENA, becoming the president of the party in 1979.
- As the regime fell, however, ARENA split over the appointment of Paulo Maluf as its presidential candidate.
- Sarney joined the dissenters, and was instrumental in the creation of the Liberal Front Party.
- He agreed to run for Vice-President on the ticket of Tancredo Neves of PMDB, formerly the opposition party to the military government.
- Neves won the presidential election, but fell ill and died before taking office, and Sarney became President.
- He started out his term with great popularity, but public opinion shifted with the Brazilian debt crisis and the failure of Plano Cruzado to abate chronic inflation.
- His government is seen today as disastrous and clientelism was widespread having longlasting consequences for the Brazilian Republic post military dictatorship. Over time, Sarney and his family acquired enormous clout over Maranhão's public life, and he is today regarded as the foremost of Brazil's oligarchs.
- Sarney owns the most important newspapers and TV stations in Maranhão, and remains influential there.
- Sarney has also faced multiple allegations of nepotism and corruption in his career.
- In 2009, the British weekly The Economist called his election as President of the Senate "a victory for semi-feudalism" and "a throwback to an era of semi-feudal politics that still prevails in corners of Brazil and holds the rest of it back." Veja columnist Roberto Pompeu de Toledo deemed him "the perfect oligarch".Sarney is also an accomplished writer, and a member of the Brazilian Academy of Letters.
