Urano Teixeira da Matta Bacellar

Who was Urano Teixeira da Matta Bacellar?

Lieutenant-General Urano Teixeira da Matta Bacellar was a Brazilian soldier. He was born in Bagé in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. He served for 39 years in the Brazilian Army and eventually rose to the rank of Lieutenant-General. He was married and had two children.

On September 1, 2005 he was selected to lead the military contingent of MINUSTAH, the UN peacekeeping force in Haiti, replacing his fellow Brazilian, Lieutenant-General Augusto Heleno Ribeiro Pereira.

Graduated at the Agulhas Negras Military Academy, he was a decorated officer. Having a great career, he was also a teacher at AMAN. He was nominated to lead the UN mission MINUSTAH in Haiti.

On January 7, 2006 General Bacellar was found dead, fallen from a chair on the balcony of his hotel room in Port-au-Prince. State news agency Agência Brasil said Lt. Gen. Urano Teixeira Da Matta Bacellar was the victim of "a firearms accident". Later that day, UN and Brazilian officials said that he appeared to have shot himself in the head, several days after national elections had been postponed for a fourth time. Bacellar was also a teacher of geography and of Brazilian Studies in military schools. He was 58 years old.