Rondon Pacheco (31 July 1919 – 4 July 2016) was a Brazilian politician. He served as

Chief of Staff of Brazil The Minister Head of the Civil House of the Presidency of the Republic ( pt, Ministro Chefe da Casa Civil da Presidência da República) is the chief of staff of the Presidency of the Federative Republic of Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), o ...

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Artur da Costa e Silva Artur da Costa e Silva (; 3 October 1899 – 17 December 1969) was a Brazilian Army Marshal and the second president of the Brazilian military government that came to power after the 1964 coup d'état. He reached the rank of Marshal of the Br ...

, from 1967 to 1969 during the

Brazilian military government The military dictatorship in Brazil ( pt, ditadura militar) was established on 1 April 1964, after a coup d'état by the Brazilian Armed Forces, with support from the United States government, against President João Goulart. The Brazilian dicta ...

. In 1971, Pacheco was appointed

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 ...

of his home state of

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 ...

by President

Emílio Garrastazu Médici Emílio Garrastazu Médici (; 4 December 1905 – 9 October 1985) was a Brazilian military leader and politician who was the president of Brazil from 1969 to 1974. His authoritarian rule marked the apex of the Brazilian military regime. Early ...

. He held the office of Governor from 1971 until 1975.

Biography

Pacheco was born in

Uberlândia Uberlândia () is a municipality in the state of Minas Gerais, southeastern Brazil. It is the second largest municipality in the state of Minas Gerais after the state capital Belo Horizonte. Its population in 2020 was 699,097, making it the fo ...

, on 31 July 1919. He studied law at 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). He credited a class speech he delivered at UFMG in 1943 with sparking his interest in politics.

Political career

In 1947, Pacheco was elected to the state

Legislative Assembly of Minas Gerais The Legislative Assembly of Minas Gerais ( pt, Assembleia Legislativa de Minas Gerais) is the state legislature of Brazil's Minas Gerais state. It consists of 77 state deputies elected by proportional representation and is based in Belo Horizo ...

as a member of the National Democratic Union (UDN). Three years later, in 1950, he was elected to the federal

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourbon R ...

in Rio de Janeiro, which was still the national capital at the time.

, the leader of the

, appointed Pacheco as his

Chief of Staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supporti ...

from March 1967 until October 1969. The Chief of Staff is a senior aide to the Brazilian president and a member of the

Cabinet of Brazil The Cabinet of Brazil ( pt, Gabinete Ministerial do Brasil) is composed of the Ministers of State and senior advisors of the executive branch of the federal government of Brazil. Cabinet officers are appointed and dismissed by the President. There ...

. President

appointed Pacheco as the Governor of Minas Gerais from 1971 until 1975. In 1973, the state government under Governor Pacheco signed an agreement with

Fiat Automobiles Fiat Automobiles S.p.A. (, , ; originally FIAT, it, Fabbrica Italiana Automobili di Torino, lit=Italian Automobiles Factory of Turin) is an Italian automobile manufacturer, formerly part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, and since 2021 a subsidiary ...

to open an automotive plant in the city of

Betim Betim is a town in Minas Gerais, Brazil. It is located at around . The city belongs to the mesoregion Metropolitan of Belo Horizonte (BH) and to the microregion of Belo Horizonte. It is the fifth largest city in Minas Gerais and one of the 50 larg ...

, near

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 Fiat plant opened in 1976. Pacheco joined the

Democratic Social Party The Democratic Social Party ( pt, Partido Democrático Social, PDS) was a conservative Brazilian political party. It was established in 1979 as a continuation of the National Renewal Alliance (ARENA), the political wing of the military during th ...

(PDS) in 1976. He endorsed the candidacy of

PMDB The Brazilian Democratic Movement ( pt, Movimento Democrático Brasileiro, MDB) is a Brazilian political party. It is considered a "big tent party" and it is one of the parties with the greatest representation throughout the national territory, ...

presidential candidate,

Tancredo Neves Tancredo de Almeida Neves () (4 March 1910 – 21 April 1985) was a Brazilian politician, lawyer, and entrepreneur. He served as Minister of Justice and Interior Affairs from 1953 to 1954, Prime Minister from 1961 to 1962, Minister of Financ ...

, in the 1985 election. Pacheco left politics in 1986 after an unsuccessful bid 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 ...

. A biographical documentary film on Pacheco's life, ''Algodão entre Espelhos'', was released in 2012. Pacheco had been hospitalized for pneumonia at a hospital in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

from 9 June until 12 June 2016. He was then transferred to a hospital in his hometown of Uberlândia from 12 June until he was discharged from that facility on 29 June 2016. Rondon Pacheco died in Uberlândia, Minas Gerais on 4 July 2016, at the age of 96. He was survived by his wife, Marina de Freitas Pacheco, and two daughters, Vera and Maria Vitória. Their son died in an accident during the late 1960s. Rondon Pacheco's funeral was held at the Palácio dos Leões (''Palace of the Lions'') in Uberlândia, with burial in the cemitério São Pedro. Pacheco was the second former Governor of Minas Gerais to die in less than two months, following the death of

Hélio Garcia Hélio de Carvalho Garcia (March 16, 1931 – June 6, 2016) was a Brazilian lawyer and politician. He served as governor of Minas Gerais from 1984 to 1987 and again from 1991 until 1995. Biography Garcia was born in Santo Antônio do Amparo, M ...

on 6 June 2016.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pacheco, Rondon 1919 births 2016 deaths Governors of Minas Gerais Chiefs of Staff of Brazil Members of the Chamber of Deputies (Brazil) from Minas Gerais Members of the Legislative Assembly of Minas Gerais Democratic Social Party politicians National Democratic Union (Brazil) politicians People from Uberlândia