born Aug. 12, 1949, Rio de Janeiro, Braz.
President of Brazil (199092).
Born to wealth, he became governor of the small state of Alagoas in 1987. Promising to promote economic growth and combat corruption and inefficiency, he defeated the leftist Luiz Silva in 1989 to become Brazil's first popularly elected president in nearly 30 years. The country's economic decline, fueled by a staggering foreign debt and hyperinflation, failed to improve, and he resigned in 1992 as his trial for corruption was about to begin.