Date: Monday, 5 Oct 1992 14:21:17 EST
From: <TPOWER@vma.cc.nd.edu>
Newsgroups: soc.culture.brazil
Subject:    Quem e Itamar Franco

_U_P_I _P_e_r_s_o_n_a_l_i_t_y _S_p_o_t_l_i_g_h_t
        BRASILIA, Brazil (UPI) -- The new Brazilian President, graying,
bespectacled Itamar Augusto Cautiero Franco, is accustomed to overcoming
challenges.
        Known for his unbending principles and an emotional temperament,
Franco, 62, took command Friday morning of a nation in economic crisis
and still reeling from a four-month corruption scandal that ousted
Fernando Collor 2 1/2 years before his term was to end.
        But Franco, who has a reputation for impeccable honesty, has spent
his life accomplishing the improbable.
        Franco's mother, Italia Cauterio, gave birth to him while she was
piloting a boat from the northeastern city of Salvador to Rio de
Janeiro.
        Franco's name comes from the Hebrew word Ithamar, which means ``isle
of palms,'' a name his mother said she chose because he was born aboard
a boat called ``Ita'' on the high seas.
        The youngest of four children, Franco comes from a poor family and
began working at the age of 7 delivering the food his mother cooked and
sold to neighbors in the city of Juiz Fora, near Rio de Janeiro.
        ``For me, she was my father and mother,'' said Franco of his mother,
now 92 and bedridden after a stroke destroyed her memory. Franco usually
spends weekends with her.
        But the family's financial troubles did not keep Franco from studying
and attending one of the oldest high schools in Juiz de Fora, the
Granbery Institue, where his father Augusto Cesar Franco had taught.
        ``I was a terrible student. There were rare times when I was not
kicked out of class,'' Franco recalled in a recent interview.
        Still, Franco managed to graduate from university with a degree in
civil and electronic engineering.
        He entered politics at the age of 23 when he lost a bid for a city
council in Juiz de Fora. In 1960, Franco unsuccessfully ran for
assistant mayor as a candidate for the Brazilian Labor Party.
        After poltical parties were banned by the military in 1965 and then
reinstated as a two-party system, Franco joined the Brazilian Democratic
Movement, which rallied opposition to the military regime that governed
the country from 1964 to 1985. In 1966, Franco was elected mayor of Juiz
de Fora by 75 percent of the vote and successfully won a second term in
1972.
        Two years later, Franco left the mayoralty and won a seat in the
federal Senate.
        In 1977, during a congressional recess ordered by the military
regime, Franco tried to form a movement to install a parliamentary
system of government in Brazil, an idea he continued to support as vice
president under Collor.
        When the military regime restored a multi-party system, Franco joined
the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party, where he defended the
legalization of the Communist Party and helped direct an unsuccessful
campaign to force the military to call direct presidential elections.
        During constituent assembly debates to reform the Brazilian
constitution in 1988, Franco opposed making concessions to foreign
businesses and fiercely defended the autonomy of municipal governments.
He also argued that congress should place controls on arms exports and
nuclear policy.
        It was during his congressional term that Franco earned his
reputation as a nationalist -- repeatedly criticizing economic policies
of the International Monetary Fund -- and actively participated in a bi-
partisan committee investigating allegations of corruption during the
administration of Ex-President Jose Sarney, who governed from 1985 to
1990.
        But Franco then surprised and irritated many allies when he quit the
Brazilian Democratic Movement Party in 1989 to become Collor's vice
presidential running mate, in spite of open differences between the two
on policy issues.
        During his 2 1/2 years as vice president, Franco became a thorn in the
side of former President Collor -- repeatedly criticizing free-market
economic changes and fighting tooth and nail against privatizations of
state businesses.
        Franco was forbidden from signing decrees during Collor's frequent
international jaunts after he tried to dismiss former Justice Minister
Jarbas Passarinho while Collor was abroad.
        ``I never imagined I would assume office through the impeachment of
the president,'' Franco said before the impeachment.
        In a country were public men are often accused of turning politics
into a money machine, Franco lives relatively modestly. The owner of two
homes and a small farm, Franco has tastes typical of the Brazilian
middle class and rarely socializes with the nation's upper crust.
        Franco avoids talking about his private life and always asks
journalists to respect his family's privacy.
        ``Politics end at the door of my house. There begins my private life,
to which I alone have rights, just as I respect the private lives of
others,'' Franco said.
        In 1968, Franco married the daughter of an important businessman,
Anna Elisa Surerus. They have two daughters -- Georgiana, 22, studying
economy, and Fabiana, 20, a law student.
        He divorced his wife in 1978 and now lives alone, dividing his time
between Juiz de Fora and Brasilia.