Hélio Garcia
{{Short description|Brazilian politician (1931–2016)}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|name = Hélio Garcia
|image = Governador Helio Garcia.jpg
|caption = Garcia
|office = Governor of Minas Gerais
|term_start = March 15, 1991
|term_end = January 1, 1995
|1blankname = Lieutenant
|1namedata = Arlindo Porto
|predecessor = Newton Cardoso
|successor = Eduardo Azeredo
|term_start1 = August 14, 1984
|term_end1 = March 15, 1987
|1blankname1 = Lieutenant
|1namedata1 = None
|predecessor1 = Tancredo Neves
|successor1 = Newton Cardoso
|office2 = Lieutenant Governor of Minas Gerais
|term_start2 = March 15, 1983
|term_end2 = August 14, 1984
|governor2 = Tancredo Neves
|predecessor2 = João Marques
|successor2 = Júnia Marise
|office3 = Mayor of Belo Horizonte
|term_start3 = April 12, 1983
|term_end3 = August 14, 1984
|predecessor3 = Júlio Laender
|successor3 = Antônio Carlos Carone
|office4 = Member of the Chamber of Deputies
|term_start4 = February 1, 1979
|term_end4 = February 1, 1983
|constituency4 = Minas Gerais
|term_start5 = February 1, 1967
|term_end5 = February 1, 1971
|constituency5 = Minas Gerais
|office6 = State Deputy of Minas Gerais
|term_start6 = February 1, 1963
|term_end6 = February 1, 1967
|constituency6 = At-large
|birth_name = Hélio de Carvalho Garcia
|birth_date = {{birth date|1931|3|16}}
|birth_place = Santo Antônio do Amparo, Minas Gerais
|death_date = {{death date and age|2016|6|6|1931|3|16}}
|death_place = Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais
|party = PTB (1990–2016)
|otherparty = UDN (1945–1965)
ARENA (1965–1979)
PP (1979–1981)
PMDB (1981–1990)
PRS (1990)
|partner =
|spouse =
|children =
|profession = Lawyer
Politician
|alma_mater =
|religion =
}}
Hélio de Carvalho Garcia (March 16, 1931 – June 6, 2016) was a Brazilian lawyer and politician. He served as governor of Minas Gerais from 1984 to 1987 and again from 1991 until 1995.{{cite news|title=Hélio Garcia, ex-governador de Minas Gerais, morre em Belo Horizonte |url=http://g1.globo.com/minas-gerais/noticia/2016/06/helio-garcia-ex-governador-de-minas-gerais-morre-em-belo-horizonte.html |work=G1 |date=2014-06-06 |access-date=2016-06-20}}{{cite news|title=Morre aos 85 anos ex-governador de Minas Hélio Garcia |url=http://agenciabrasil.ebc.com.br/geral/noticia/2016-06/morreu-hoje-aos-85-anos-o-ex-governador-de-mg-helio-garcia |work=Agência Brasil |date=2014-06-06 |access-date=2016-06-20}}{{cite news|first=Carlos Eduardo|last=Cherem |title=Vice de Tancredo e governador de MG por 2 vezes, Hélio Garcia morre em BH |url=http://noticias.uol.com.br/politica/ultimas-noticias/2016/06/06/vice-de-tancredo-e-governador-de-mg-por-2-vezes-helio-garcia-morre-em-bh.htm |work=Universo Online |date=2014-06-06 |access-date=2016-06-20}}{{cite news|first=Bertha |last=Maakaroun |title=Confira a trajetória do ex-governador Hélio Garcia na política |url=http://www.em.com.br/app/noticia/politica/2016/06/06/interna_politica,769730/confira-a-trajetoria-do-ex-governador-helio-garcia-na-politica.shtml |work=Estado de Minas |date=2014-06-06 |access-date=2016-06-20}}
Biography
=Political career=
In 1982, Garcia was elected vice governor of Minas Gerais as the running mate of Tancredo Neves during the country's first direct gubernatorial elections since military rule. Neves and Garcia took office as governor and vice governor of Minas Gerais, respectively, on March 15, 1983. Soon after taking office, Governor Neves appointed Garcia as the Mayor of Belo Horizonte. (At the time, the Mayor of Belo Horizonte, the state capital, was still an appointed position, and there was no direct election of mayor. Garcia served simultaneously as both the vice governor of Minas Gerais and the mayor of Belo Horizonte from April 1983 until August 14, 1984.
On August 14, 1984, Governor Tancredo Neves resigned from office to begin his campaign for President of Brazil. Vice Governor Garcia succeeded him as the new Governor of Minas Gerais. Garcia, a member of the PMDB, served his first tenure as governor August 1984 until March 1987.
Garcia was elected governor of Minas Gerais in 1990, this time as a member of the Brazilian Labour Party (PTB). He served as governor from 1991 until January 1, 1995. He then largely retired from politics and returned to his home in Santo Antônio do Amparo. In 1998, Garcia ran for a seat in the Federal Senate, but lost that election.
Garcia had suffered from serious illnesses during his later life, including heart arrhythmia, coronary artery disease and Alzheimer's disease. He was admitted to Segundo o Hospital Unimed hospital in Belo Horizonte on May 28, 2016, for pneumonia and respiratory failure. He died from respiratory failure at the same hospital on June 6, 2016, at the age of 85. His funeral was held at the Parque da Colina Cemetery and Crematorium on June 14. The current governor of Minas Gerais, Fernando Pimentel, declared three days of mourning in the state following his death.
Brazil's interim President Michel Temer called Garcia was one of the pillar who helped Tancredo Neves with the re-democratization of Brazil, in a message posted to Twitter following his death.
References
{{Reflist}}
{{MinasGeraisGovernors}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Garcia, Helio}}
Category:National Democratic Union (Brazil) politicians
Category:National Renewal Alliance politicians
Category:Brazilian Democratic Movement politicians
Category:Brazilian Labour Party (1981) politicians
Category:Members of the Chamber of Deputies (Brazil) from Minas Gerais
Category:Governors of Minas Gerais
Category:Vice governors of Minas Gerais
Category:Mayors of Belo Horizonte
Category:Members of the Legislative Assembly of Minas Gerais