Passarinho, Jarbas Gonçalves (1920–)

Jarbas Gonçalves Passarinho (b. 11 January 1920), Brazilian Military Commander of the Amazon who became a prominent political leader of the military regime that ruled Brazil from 1964 to 1985. Named governor of the state of Pará shortly after the coup in 1964, Passarinho served in that post until 1966. In 1967, after being elected to the Senate (1967–1983), he was appointed minister of labor and social welfare by President Artur da Costa E Silva. In December 1968, Passarinho signed Institutional Act 5, which marked the beginning of Brazil's most repressive phase of military rule. One of the few politicians to enjoy confidence among the competing military factions, he served as minister of education and culture (1970–1973) under President Emilio Garrastazu Médici. Elected to the Senate from Pará in 1975, Passarinho served for eight years. In 1983, Passarinho was appointed minister of welfare and social assistance by President João Baptista Figueiredo. He demonstrated his remarkable resiliency by winning a third eight-year Senate term in 1986, under civilian rule, on the Partido Democrático Social ticket. Appointed minister of justice in 1990 by President Fernando Collor De Mello, Passarinho retained that post until 1992. In 1994 he ran to serve under the government of Pará but lost to Almir Gabriel.

See alsoBrazil, Revolutions: Revolution of 1964; Costa e Silva, Artur da.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Peter Calvert, ed., Political and Economic Encyclopedia of South America and the Caribbean (1991), p. 87.

Additional Bibliography

Houtzager, Peter. "State and Unions in the Transformation of the Brazilian Countryside." Latin American Research Review. (1998): 103-142.

                                        Scott Mainwaring