Itamar Franco

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Itamar Augusto Cautiero Franco
Itamar Franco

In office
December 29, 1992 – January 1, 1995
Acting President from October 2, 1992
Vice President None
Preceded by Fernando Collor de Mello
Succeeded by Fernando Henrique Cardoso

In office
March 15, 1990 – December 29, 1992
President Fernando Collor de Mello
Preceded by José Sarney
Succeeded by Marco Maciel

Born June 28, 1930 (1930-06-28) (age 77)
Atlantic Ocean off Brazil
Nationality Brazilian
Political party Party of the Brazilian Democratic Movement (Partido do Movimento Democrático Brasileiro)

Itamar Augusto Cautiero Franco, usually known as Itamar Franco (pron. IPA[i.tɐ.'maʁ 'fɾɐ̃.kʊ]), (born June 28, 1930) is a Brazilian politician who was President of Brazil from December 29, 1992 to January 1, 1995.

Itamar Franco was born at sea, aboard a ship traveling between Salvador and Rio de Janeiro. He was named Itamar because he was born on board of ship Ita, at sea (in Portuguese Mar). His family was from Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais, where he grew up and became a civil engineer in 1955, graduating from the School of Engineering of Juiz de Fora. Franco was mayor of Juiz de Fora from 1967 to 1971 and again from 1973 to 1974. He resigned as mayor in 1974 and ran successfully for the Federal Senate as a representative of Minas Gerais. He soon became a senior figure in the MDB (Movimento Democrático Brasileiro - Brazilian Democratic Movement), the official opposition to the military regime that ruled Brazil from 1964 to 1985. Re-elected as a senator in 1982, he was defeated in an attempt to be elected governor of Minas Gerais in 1986 as a candidate of the Liberal Party (PL).

In 1989, Franco left PL and joined the small PRN (National Reconstruction Party) to be selected the running-mate of the presidential candidate Fernando Collor de Mello. Collor won and Franco became vice-president. In 1992, Collor was charged with corruption and was impeached by the Congress. Franco was acting president from October 1992 until Collor's impeachment in December of that year, at which point he formally took office as president.

Franco took power as Brazil was in the midst of a severe economic crisis, with inflation reaching 1,100% in 1992 and rocketing to almost 6,000% in 1993. Franco developed a reputation as a mercurial leader, but he selected as his Finance Minister Fernando Henrique Cardoso, who launched the "Plano Real" that stabilized the economy and ended inflation. Cardoso became the official candidate to succeed Franco and was elected President in late 1994. Franco, however, soon became a severe critic of Cardoso's government and disagreed with the privatization program. Thereafter, he served as the Brazilian Ambassador to Portugal in Lisbon and then as Brazilian Ambassador to the Organization of American States in Washington, DC until 1998. He was elected governor of Minas Gerais in 1998 and as soon as he took office, he enacted a moratorium on state debt payments, worsening the national economic crisis. Itamar Franco served until 2003 and since then has been the ambassador of Brazil in Italy, until leaving the position in 2005.

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Preceded by
Adhemar Rezende de Andrade
Mayor of Juiz de Fora
1967 – 1971
Succeeded by
Agostinho Pestana
Preceded by
Agostinho Pestana
Mayor of Juiz de Fora
1973 – 1974
Succeeded by
Saulo Moreira
Preceded by
José Sarney
Vice-President of Brazil
March 15, 1990September 2, 1992
Succeeded by
Marco Maciel
Preceded by
Fernando Collor de Mello
President of Brazil
September 2, 1992January 1, 1995
Succeeded by
Fernando Henrique Cardoso
Preceded by
Eduardo Brandão de Azeredo
Governor of Minas Gerais
1999 – 2003
Succeeded by
Aécio Neves
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