Word: guimares
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...electoral college is a farce," declared Brazilian Presidential Candidate Ulysses Guimaràes. So, too, he might have added, was the whole presidential campaign. Guimaràes and his opposition Brazilian Democratic Movement Party never had a chance against the country's ruling military dictatorship and its candidate, General Ernesto Geisel. Though the generals tried to give the election the trappings of democracy, they had no intention of losing. Portly, white-haired Geisel was hand-picked last summer by Outgoing President General Emilio Medici...
Exact Image. The campaign itself was not exactly a textbook example of democracy in action. While Geisel had a government plane and the government-controlled press at his disposal, Guimaràes was not even given radio or TV time. In the city of Campo Grande, the government-owned electric company cut off the power just when a meeting of Guimaràes' supporters was about to begin. In Niteroi, a city near Rio de Janeiro, perplexed bystanders watched a small band of demonstrators parade through the streets carrying placards calling for an end to censorship and a return...
Though his cause was hopeless, Guimaràes thought the effort was worthwhile. The campaign gave him the opportunity to raise issues in public that would normally not be covered in the heavily censored press. Guimaràes spoke out against "arbitrary arrests and persecution, torture and violence." He called for an end to press censorship and lambasted the junta's refusal to allow Brazilians a direct voice in electing the President, observing that "people who are capable of working and paying taxes are also capable of voting." Surprisingly, the charges were printed in local newspapers...