Brenda Moreira (1936-2009) was President of Brazil from 2008 to 2009, succeeding Raquel Santos. Moreira was a popular president during her tenure, as she was seen as a selfless leader who, unlike any other party leader, was willing to donate from her party coffers to help the country recover from economic troubles. However, she turned the nominally-social democratic PTB into a corrupt populist political machine which used violence to dispose of political rivals and which worked the parliamentary system to gradually eliminate the laws which made Brazil a democratic country.
Biography[]
Brenda Moreira was born in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil in 1936, and she worked as an accountant for several decades. She became active in the opposition to the military government of the 1960s to the 1980s, and she became a Brazilian Labor Party member after the party's refoundation. In 2000, she was elected to the Chamber of Deputies, and she rose in the ranks due to her experience and popularity. In 2007, incumbent PTB leader and President Raquel Santos decided to retire at the year's end, as she was 86 when she was re-elected. After she won the presidential election, Santos stood down as party leader, and Moreira was appointed the new leader. In the December 2007 general elections, the PTB achieved its best yet election results when it won 39.58% of the vote and 16 seats in the Chamber of Deputies, and, in the first week of January 2008, Moreira defeated Workers' Party of Brazil leader Mariana Santanha in the presidential election, winning 58.1% to Santanha's 41.9%.
Presidency[]
Moreira inherited a slowly growing economy which was rebounding from an economic depression; she was cautious about approving new government programs, as she sought to continue (or, better, accelerate) the economy's growth. In a 21-15 vote, she was defeated in her attempt to create highway tolls to help the economy grow, but the Chamber voted 28-3 to approve hosting the Olympic games in the country. The Chamber also voted 25-9 to approve the creation of a National Football League to raise happiness in the country. The PTB then abstained from a vote on national parks, which were abolished in a 14-4 vote, and then from a vote on public housing, which was abolished in an 18-3 vote. After PTB deputy Diego Jordao left the party for the rival PMDB, Moreira hired a hitman to murder him, and he was found dead four weeks later under suspicious circumstances; Moreira evaded suspicion for his death. In the mid-2008 general election, the PTB rose to 41.45% of the vote and 17 seats, followed by the PTB with 18.56% and 7 seats, the PSDB with 17.11% and 7 seats, the PMDB with 13.20% and 5 seats, and the PP with 9.68% and 4 seats. Moreira was then re-elected with 58.7% of the vote to Santanha's 41.3%, winning a second term. Moreira was again accused of corruption when PTB defector Joao Joares was found to have been murdered and PTB deputy Luiz Mascarenhas decided to retire rather than remain in a party so intrinsically linked to political violence. Moreira's party also abstained from a vote on press freedom, which failed 14-9, and the Chamber voted 22-9 to reduce the constitutional amendment threshold to 51%. At the start of 2009, a sporting victory inspired the country. Moreira then used some of her party's black money to bribe Progressistas leader Daniel Budens into steering his party in support of highway tolls, which passed 19-17. The Chamber then voted 23-11 to approve a car tax, and the economy began to increase again. The Chamber voted 29-6 to lengthen terms to 55 weeks, helping the PTB to extend its stay in power; PTB deputy Isabel Noguira resigned in protest. She died just five weeks before the 2009 elections, and her death was mourned by her supporters. Former President Eduardo Doreira took her place as party leader, and Gustavo Kosinski took her seat in the Chamber.