João Figueiredo

Who was João Figueiredo?

João Baptista de Oliveira Figueiredo was a Brazilian military leader and politician. He was chief of the Secret Service during the term of his predecessor Ernesto Geisel. Figueiredo was chosen to be President of Brazil by the former military leader, General Ernesto Geisel. He took the oath of office on March 15, 1979, serving until March 15, 1985. He continued the democratization that Geisel started and decreed amnesty. Facing a severe economic crisis, Figueiredo became increasingly unpopular. He suffered a heart attack in 1981. Since 1964, Brazilians had not been allowed to vote for president and by 1983 they began to demonstrate for the return of the democracy. Figueiredo opposed this and in 1984 the Congress rejected the return of direct elections. But the opposition, headed by Tancredo Neves, won the election for president in the Congress. Figueiredo retired after the end of his term and died in 1999.