Hélio de Carvalho Garcia (March 16, 1931 – June 6, 2016) was a Brazilian

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

and

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

. He served as

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Minas Gerais Minas Gerais () is a state in Southeastern Brazil. It ranks as the second most populous, the third by gross domestic product (GDP), and the fourth largest by area in the country. The state's capital and largest city, Belo Horizonte (literally ...

from 1984 to 1987 and again from 1991 until 1995.

Biography

Garcia was born in Santo Antônio do Amparo, Minas Gerais, on March 16, 1931. He received his

law degree A law degree is an academic degree conferred for studies in law. Such degrees are generally preparation for legal careers. But while their curricula may be reviewed by legal authority, they do not confer a license themselves. A legal license is gra ...

from the

Federal University of Minas Gerais The Federal University of Minas Gerais ( pt, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, UFMG) is a federalIn the Brazilian Higher Education context, ''Federal'' does not mean ''collegiate'' (even though most Federal Universities in Brazil enjoy a sim ...

(UFMG) in Belo Horizonte. He began his political career as a state deputy in the Legislative Assembly of Minas Gerais from 1963 to 1967.

Political career

In 1982, Garcia was elected vice governor of Minas Gerais as the

running mate A running mate is a person running together with another person on a joint Ticket (election), ticket during an election. The term is most often used in reference to the person in the subordinate position (such as the vice presidential candidate ...

of Tancredo Neves during the country's first direct gubernatorial elections since

military rule Military rule may mean: * Military justice, the legal system applying to members of the armed forces * Martial law, where military authority takes over normal administration of law * Militarism or militarist ideology, the ideology of government as b ...

. Neves and Garcia took office as governor and vice governor of Minas Gerais, respectively, on March 15, 1983. Soon after taking office, Governor Neves appointed Garcia as the Mayor of Belo Horizonte. (At the time, the Mayor of

Belo Horizonte Belo Horizonte (, ; ) is the sixth-largest city in Brazil, with a population around 2.7 million and with a metropolitan area of 6 million people. It is the 13th-largest city in South America and the 18th-largest in the Americas. The metropol ...

, the state capital, was still an appointed position, and there was no direct election of mayor. Garcia served simultaneously as both the vice governor of Minas Gerais and the mayor of Belo Horizonte from April 1983 until August 14, 1984. On August 14, 1984, Governor Tancredo Neves resigned from office to begin his campaign for

President of Brazil The president of Brazil ( pt, Presidente do Brasil), officially the president of the Federative Republic of Brazil ( pt, Presidente da República Federativa do Brasil) or simply the ''President of the Republic'', is the head of state and head o ...

. Vice Governor Garcia succeeded him as the new Governor of Minas Gerais. Garcia, a member of the PMDB, served his first tenure as governor August 1984 until March 1987. Garcia was elected governor of Minas Gerais in 1990, this time as a member of the Brazilian Labour Party (PTB). He served as governor from 1991 until January 1, 1995. He then largely retired from politics and returned to his home in Santo Antônio do Amparo. In 1998, Garcia ran for a seat in the

Federal Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. Senate or the Senate may also refer to: * Any one of the national senates in the world, including ** The Brazilian Senate ** The United States Sen ...

, but lost that election. Garcia had suffered from serious illnesses during his later life, including heart arrhythmia, coronary artery disease and Alzheimer's disease. He was admitted to Segundo o Hospital Unimed hospital in

on May 28, 2016, for

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...

and respiratory failure. He died from respiratory failure at the same hospital on June 6, 2016, at the age of 85. His funeral was held at the Parque da Colina Cemetery and Crematorium on June 14. The current governor of Minas Gerais,

Fernando Pimentel Fernando Damata Pimentel (born 31 March 1951) is a Brazilian politician and economist. He is a member of the Workers' Party (PT). He was the Mayor of Belo Horizonte from 2001 to 2009, the Minister of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade in ...

, declared three days of mourning in the state following his death. Brazil's interim President

Michel Temer Michel Miguel Elias Temer Lulia (; born 23 September 1940) is a Brazilian politician, lawyer and writer who served as the 37th president of Brazil from 31 August 2016 to 31 December 2018. He took office after the impeachment and removal from off ...

called Garcia was one of the pillar who helped Tancredo Neves with the re-democratization of Brazil, in a message posted to

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following his death.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Garcia, Helio 1931 births 2016 deaths People from Minas Gerais National Democratic Union (Brazil) politicians National Renewal Alliance politicians Brazilian Democratic Movement politicians Brazilian Labour Party (current) politicians Members of the Chamber of Deputies (Brazil) from Minas Gerais Governors of Minas Gerais Vice Governors of Minas Gerais Mayors of Belo Horizonte Members of the Legislative Assembly of Minas Gerais