Presidency of José Sarney
The presidency of José Sarney, also called the José Sarney government was a period in Brazilian political history that corresponds to José Ribamar Ferreira Araújo da Costa Sarney's first mandate as President of the Republic until his succession by Fernando Collor. Sarney took over the position on an interim basis after Tancredo Neves was hospitalized, and definitively on 21 April 1985, with his death, when Sarney became the first civilian president after more than twenty years of military dictatorship in Brazil.
The Sarney government recorded a growth of 22.72% in GDP and 12.51% in per capita income. Sarney took office with inflation at 242.24% and delivered at 1972.91%.
Background
The country had been ruled by a military dictatorship since the Civil-Military Coup of 1964. The government was weakened, divided between the hard-line military and the moderate military. The economy was suffering from high inflation, people were taking to the streets in the so-called "Diretas Já". Military officer Ernesto Geisel, president between 1974 and 1979, guaranteed a "slow, safe and gradual distension". Thus began the political opening. Little by little, the opposition, the old Brazilian Democratic Movement gained strength. But it was under the government of João Figueiredo that the country went over to civilians, after years of frustration. In 1985, Tancredo Neves was elected by the electoral college with 480 votes against 180 for Paulo Maluf who represented the dictatorship.On the eve of Tancredo's inauguration on 14 March 1985, he was hospitalized. The next day, José Sarney took over on an interim basis until the incumbent took office. On 21 April 1985, Tancredo died at the age of 75, and José Sarney became permanent president.
Ministers of State
| Ministry | Minister | Term of office | Notes |
| Ministry of State Extraordinary for Administration Affairs | Aluízio Alves | 15 March 1985 to 4 September 1986 | Ministry replaced by the Secretariat of Public Administration on 3 September 1986. |
| Ministry of State Extraordinary for Irrigation Affairs | Vicente Cavalcante Fialho | 14 February 1986 to 15 February 1989 | Ministry extinct. |
| Ministry of Aeronautics | Octávio Júlio Moreira Lima | 15 March 1985 to 15 March 1990 | The minister was a lieutenant brigadier. Ministry extinct in 2001. |
| Ministry of Agriculture | Pedro Jorge Simon | 15 March 1985 to 14 February 1986 | |
| Ministry of Agriculture | Iris Rezende Machado | 14 February 1986 to 15 March 1990 | |
| Ministério da Ciência e Tecnologia | Renato Bayma Archer da Silva | 15 March 1985 to 22 October 1987 | Ministry replaced by the State Ministry of Industrial Development, Science and Technology |
| Ministério da Ciência e Tecnologia | Luiz Henrique da Silveira | 22 October 1987 to 29 September 1988 | Ministry replaced by the State Ministry of Industrial Development, Science and Technology |
| Ministério da Ciência e Tecnologia | Luiz André Rico Vicente | 29 September 1980 to 16 August 1988 | Ministry replaced by the State Ministry of Industrial Development, Science and Technology |
| Ministério da Ciência e Tecnologia | Ralph Biasi | 16 August 1988 to 15 January 1989 | Ministry replaced by the State Ministry of Industrial Development, Science and Technology |
| Ministry of Culture | José Aparecido de Oliveira | 15 March 1985 to 9 May 1985, 21 September 1988 to 15 March 1990 | |
| Ministry of Culture | Aluísio Pimenta | 29 May 1985 to 14 February 1986 | |
| Ministry of Culture | Celso Monteiro Furtado | 14 February 1986 to 1 August 1988 | |
| Ministry of Culture | Hugo Napoleão do Rego Neto | 1 August 1988 through 21 September 1988 | |
| Ministry of Education | Marco Antônio de Oliveira Maciel | 15 March 1985 to 14 February 1986 | |
| Ministry of Education | Jorge Konder Bornhausen | 14 February 1986 to 6 October 1987 | |
| Ministry of Education | Aloísio Guimarães Sotero | 6 October 1987 to 30 October 1987 | |
| Ministry of Education | Hugo Napoleão do Rego Neto | 30 October 1987 to 17 January 1989 | |
| Ministry of Education | Carlos Corrêa de Menezes Sant'anna | 17 January 1989 to 15 March 1990 | |
| Ministry of the Army | Leônidas Pires Gonçalves | 15 March 1985 to 15 March 1990 | The minister was an Army General |
| Ministry of Finance | Francisco Oswaldo Neves Dornelles | 15 March 1985 to 26 August 1985 | |
| Ministry of Finance | Dilson Domingos Funaro | 26 August 1985 to 29 April 1987 | |
| Ministry of Finance | Luiz Carlos Bresser Gonçalves Pereira | 29 April 1987 to 21 December 1987 | |
| Ministry of Finance | Maílson Ferreira da Nóbrega | 13 May 1987 to 15 March 1990 | |
| Ministry of Housing, Urbanism and Environment | Luiz Humberto Prisco Viana | 23 October 1987 to 5 September 1988 | Changed its name to Ministry of Housing and Social Welfare |
| Ministry of Housing and Social Welfare | Luiz Humberto Prisco Viana | 5 September 1988 to 15 February 1989 | Ministry extinct. |
| Ministry of Industry and Trade | Roberto Herbster Gusmão | 15 March 1985 to 14 February 1986 | Replaced by State Ministry of Industrial Development, Science and Technology |
| Ministry of Industry and Trade | José Hugo Castelo Branco | 14 February 1986 to 4 August 1988 | Replaced by State Ministry of Industrial Development, Science and Technology |
| Ministry of Industry and Trade | Luiz André Rico Vicente | 5 August 1988 to 17 August 1988 | Replaced by State Ministry of Industrial Development, Science and Technology |
| Ministry of Industry and Trade | Roberto Cardoso Alves | 17 August 1988 to 14 February 1989 | Replaced by State Ministry of Industrial Development, Science and Technology |
| Ministry of Justice | Fernando Soares Lyra | 15 March 1985 to 14 February 1986 | |
| Ministry of Justice | Paulo Brossard de Souza Pinto | 14 February 1986 to 19 January 1989 | |
| Ministry of Justice | Oscar Dias Correia | 19 January 1989 to 9 August 1989 | |
| Ministry of Justice | José Saulo Pereira Ramos | 9 August 1989 to 15 March 1990 | |
| Ministry of Navy | Henrique Saboia | 15 March 1985 to 15 March 1990 | The minister was an admiral. |
| Ministry of Social Security and Assistance | Francisco Waldir Pires de Souza | 15 March 1985 to 13 February 1986 | |
| Ministry of Social Security and Assistance | Raphael de Almeida Magalhães | 18 February 1986 to 22 October 1987 | |
| Ministry of Social Security and Assistance | Renato Bayma Archer da Silva | 27 October 1987 to 28 July 1988 | |
| Ministry of Social Security and Assistance | Jader Fontenelle Barbalho | 29 July 1988 to 14 March 1990 | |
| Ministry of Agrarian Reform and Development | Nélson de Figueiredo Ribeiro | 30 April 1985 to 28 May 1986 | Ministry extinct. |
| Ministry of Agrarian Reform and Development | Dante Martins de Oliveira | 28 May 1986 to 2 June 1987 | |
| Ministry of Agrarian Reform and Development | Iris Rezende Machado | 2 June 1987 to 4 June 1987, 9 September 1987 through 22 September 1987 29 July 1988 through 11 August 1988 | |
| Ministry of Agrarian Reform and Development | Marcos de Barros Freire | 4 June 1987 to 29 July 1988 | |
| Ministry of Agrarian Reform and Development | Jader Fontenelle Barbalho | 22 September 1987 to 29 July 1988 | |
| Ministry of Agrarian Reform and Development | Lázaro Ferreira Barboza | 11 August 1988 to 16 August 1988 | |
| Ministry of Agrarian Reform and Development | Leopoldo Pacheco Bessone | 17 August 1988 to 15 February 1989 | |
| Ministry of Health | Carlos Corrêa de Menezes Sant'anna | 15 March 1985 to 13 February 1986 | |
| Ministry of Health | Roberto Figueira Santos | 14 February 1986 to 23 November 1987 | |
| Ministry of Health | Luiz Carlos Borges da Silveira | 23 November 1987 to 15 January 1989 | |
| Ministry of Health | Seigo Tsuzuki | 16 January 1989 to 14 March 1990 | |
| Ministry of Communications | Antônio Carlos Peixoto de Magalhães | 15 March 1985 to 15 March 1990 | |
| Ministry of Mines and Energy | Antônio Aureliano Chaves de Mendonça | 15 March 1985 to 22 December 1988 | |
| Ministry of Mines and Energy | Iris Rezende Machado | 22 December 1988 to 17 January 1989 | |
| Ministry of Mines and Energy | Vicente Cavalcante Fialho | 17 January 1989 to 15 March 1990 | |
| Ministry of Foreign Affairs | Olavo Egídio de Sousa Aranha Setúbal | 15 March 1985 to 14 February 1986 | |
| Ministry of Foreign Affairs | Roberto Costa de Abreu Sodré | 14 February 1986 to 15 March 1990 | |
| Ministry of Industrial Development, Science and Technology | Roberto Cardoso Alves | 16 February 1989 to 14 March 1989 | It was called the Ministry of Industrial Development, Science and Technology, and later the Ministry of Industry and Trade Development. |
| Ministry of Urban Development and Environment | Flávio Rios Peixoto da Silveira | 15 March 1985 to 14 February 1986 | Changed its name to Ministry of Housing, Urbanism and Environment |
| Ministry of Urban Development and Environment | Deni Lineu Schwartz | 14 February 1986 to 23 October 1987 | Changed its name to Ministry of Housing, Urbanism and Environment |
| Ministry of Interior | Ronaldo Costa Couto | 15 March 1985 to 30 April 1987 | Ministry extinct. |
| Ministry of Interior | Joaquim Francisco de Freitas Cavalcanti | 30 April 1987 to 7 August 1987 | Ministry extinct. |
| Ministry of Interior | João Alves Filho | 7 August 1987 to 15 March 1990 | Ministry extinct. |
| Ministry of Labour | Almir Pazzianotto Pinto | 15 March 1985 to 27 September 1988 | |
| Ministry of Labour | Erós Antônio de Almeida | 28 September 1988 through 14 October 1988 | |
| Ministry of Labour | Ronaldo Costa Couto | 14 October 1988 to 13 January 1989 | |
| Ministry of Labour | Dorothea Fonseca Furquim Werneck | 13 January 1989 to 15 March 1990 | |
| Ministry of Transportation | Affonso Alves de Camargo Neto | 14 March 1985 to 14 February 1986 | |
| Ministry of Transportation | José Reinaldo Carneiro Tavares | 14 February 1986 to 15 March 1990 |
Redemocratization
When he took office, Sarney stated that changes would come during the redemocratization process. The first of these came on 8 May 1985, when the constitutional amendment that established direct elections for president, mayor and governor was approved. Illiterate people were given the right to vote for the first time in Brazilian history, and communist parties were legalized.In the process of redemocratization, a new Constitution was needed. This was because the 1967 constitution had been made during the military regime, and thus had a dictatorial character. On 1 February 1987, the Constituent Assembly of 1988 took office, responsible for creating the new constitution. The president of the Assembly was Ulysses Guimarães. Most of the Constituent Assembly was formed by the Democratic Center, also known as the "Centrão". They were supported by the Executive Branch, represented conservative factions of society, and had a decisive influence on the work of the Constituent Assembly and the outcome of important decisions, such as the maintenance of the agrarian policy and the role of the Armed Forces.
Regardless of the controversies of a political nature, the 1988 Federal Constitution ensured several constitutional guarantees, with the objective of giving greater effectiveness to fundamental rights, allowing the participation of the Judiciary whenever there is injury or threat of injury to rights. To demonstrate the change that was taking place in the Brazilian governmental system, which had recently emerged from an authoritarian regime, the 1988 Constitution qualified torture and armed actions against the democratic state and constitutional order as non-bailable crimes, thus creating constitutional devices to block coups of any nature. Direct elections were determined. According to historian Boris Fausto, the text reflected the pressures of the various groups in society, interested in defining norms that would benefit them.
Economy
Brazil suffered from high inflation and international crises. To try to "unburden the country", the government created several economic plans.Under the Cruzado Plan, the cruzeiro, the currency in effect at the time, was changed to the cruzado. Salaries were frozen, being readjusted whenever inflation reached 20%. Monetary correction was abolished, and unemployment insurance was created. At first, the plan managed to achieve its goals, reducing unemployment and reducing inflation. The popularity of the plan made the president's party, the PMDB, victorious in the 1985 municipal elections. The party managed to elect 19 of the 25 mayors of the state capitals. The following year, in 1986, the party managed to elect the governors of all states except Sergipe; and in Congress, the party won 261 seats out of a total of 487 in the Chamber of Deputies, and 45 of the 72 seats in the Federal Senate. However, soon after, the Cruzado Plan began to decay, and the merchants hid their goods in order to use an agio - an additional tax on the product - to be able to sell the products above the established price. After the 1986 elections, the II Cruzado Plan was announced, which caused an excessive increase in prices. The plan failed, and inflation was already over 20%. Finance Minister Dílson Funaro, responsible for the "Cruzado Plans" was replaced by Luís Carlos Bresser-Pereira.
Shortly after Bresser-Pereira took office, inflation reached 23.21%. In order to control the public deficit, through which the government spent more than it collected, an emergency economic plan, the Bresser Plan, was presented in June 1987, instituting a three-month freeze on prices and wages. In order to reduce the public deficit some measures were taken, such as: deactivating the wage trigger, increasing taxes, eliminating the wheat subsidy, and postponing the large projects that were already planned, among them the bullet train between São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, the North-South Railroad, and the petrochemical complex in Rio de Janeiro. Negotiations with the International Monetary Fund were resumed, and the moratorium was suspended. Even with all these measures, inflation reached the alarming rate of 366% in the 12-month period of 1987. Minister Bresser-Pereira resigned from the Ministry of Finance on 6 January 1988, and was replaced by Maílson da Nóbrega.
Minister Maílson da Nóbrega created the Verão Plan in January 1989, which decreed a new price freeze and created a new currency: the Cruzado Novo. Like all the others, this one also failed, and Sarney ended his government in a time of economic recession.