Who is Fernando Collor de Mello?
Fernando Collor de Mello comes from a political family in the state of Alagoas, though he was born in Rio de Janeiro, in 1949. He trained as an economist, served as mayor of Maceió and then as governor of Alagoas. As governor he won fame nationally by going after 'maharajas', public workers on huge pay. In 1989 he ran for the small PRN party and defeated Lula (Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva) in the second round. In office he froze most bank balances, began selling state firms and cut import tariffs. A corruption scandal then brought him down in 1992. Alagoas later sent him to the Senate, where he served from 2007 until 2023.
Political views
- His 1990 stabilization plan kept bank and savings money above a 50,000 cruzeiro limit out of reach for a year and a half.Source: planalto.gov.br
- In 1990 he set up the National Privatization Program, meant to sell state companies and shrink the state's place in the economy.Source: planalto.gov.br
- He opened the economy to foreign goods by lowering import tariffs in stages and letting the exchange rate float.Source: www18.fgv.br
- A 1991 informatics law that he signed ended the protected market for computers and offered tax incentives to build competitiveness instead.Source: planalto.gov.br
- He signed Brazil's Consumer Protection Code in 1990.Source: planalto.gov.br
- His term included the 1992 UN Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, and he signed off on marking out the Yanomami Indigenous Territory.Source: pt.wikipedia.org
Legacy
Supporters say Collor ended decades of import substitution, began privatization and forced Brazilian industry to face foreign competition, and later governments carried these reforms on. Critics recall the savings freeze, which locked up the money of millions of households without ending inflation, and the deep recession that followed. His presidency finished with the first impeachment of a Brazilian president, helped along by student street protests known as the 'painted faces'. In 1994 the Supreme Court acquitted him on the criminal corruption charges, citing too little evidence. A later case went the other way. In May 2023 the court found him guilty of passive corruption and money laundering, over bribes linked to BR Distribuidora contracts (a Petrobras subsidiary), and gave him 8 years and 10 months. Police arrested him in April 2025. From 1 May 2025 he was allowed house arrest on health grounds.