Fernando Affonso Collor de Mello (born August 12, 1949) was president of Brazil from 1990 to 1992.

Collor was was born in a political family, led by his father Arnon de Mello, a journalist and former governor of Alagoas. He became the president of Brazilian football club CSA in 1976. Backed by his good looks and popularity, he entered politics, successively mayor of Alagoas' capital Maceió, a federal deputy, and eventually governor of the state of Alagoas in 1987.

In 1989 Collor defeated Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in a two round presidential race. He won in the state of Sao Paulo against many prominent political figures. The first democratically elected President of Brazil in 29 years, Collor spent the early years of his government allegedly battling inflation, which at times reached rates of 25% per month.

Shortly after taking office, Collor launched the "Collor Plan", which attempted to reduce the money supply by forcibly converting large portions of consumer bank accounts into unspendable government bonds, while at the same time increasing the printing of money bills, a contradictory measure to combat inflation. All accounts over 1200 Cruzeiros were frozen for 18 months. He also proposed freezes in wages and prices, as well as major cuts in government spending. The measures were received unenthusiastically by the people, though many felt that radical measures were necessary to reduce the constant inflation. Within a few months, however, inflation resumed, eventually reaching rates of 25% per month.

This strategy, many economists say, was in fact a cover up for lowering the high public debt bill. The "confiscated" money had negative real interest rates while in the government's hands and this negative difference was indirectly used to significantly lower the Brazilian sovereign debt. Those economists state that lowering the high inflation was never the real first objective of the plan.

A feature of Collor's administration was the privatization of a number of government-owned enterprises such as Acesita. His government also had a tremendous commercial impact, once both taxes and red tape on imports were all lifted, allegedly to make the national industry more competitive and provide the population with cheaper and better quality products. While the results of this were controversial, it is safe to say this was a severe blow to the outdated and uncompetitive Brazilian industries, such as the automotive industry.

In 1992, Collor was accused by his brother Pedro of corruption, leading to investigations by both Congress and the press. Many accusations focused on the role of Collor's campaign manager, Paulo Cesar Farias, who accumulated substantial wealth as Collor's political star rose. In October, the congress voted to suspend him. Collor was impeached by Congress on December 29, 1992 and his right to run for political office was suspended for 8 years, according to Brazilian law applied to corruption. Most of the population still identifies Collor with corruption although he was later declared not guilty of all charges made against him.

He was succeeded by his vice president, Itamar Franco, widely regarded as an inept to the office of President. Itamar's Economy minister, Fernando Henrique Cardoso, was later elected President in 1995 and reelected to another term in 1998.

In 2002, he ran for governor in his home state, Alagoas, but he lost an election for the first time in his life. His political future was uncertain by 2006.

References

• http://www.fee.org/publications/the-freeman/article.asp?aid=3144
• Guia dos Curiosos- CSA reference

See also: List of Presidents of Brazil, History of Brazil (1964-present)

1949 births | Living people | Brazilian politicians | Brazilian economists | Presidents of Brazil | History of Brazil

Fernando Collor de Mello | Fernando Collor de Mello | Fernando Collor de Mello | Fernando Collor de Mello | Fernando Collor de Mello | פרננדו קולור דה מלו | Fernando Affonso Collor de Mello | Fernando Collor de Mello | Fernando Collor de Mello | 费尔南多·科洛尔·德梅洛