Miro Texeira
PEOPLE PROFILE is published every Tuesday and describes the professional background of key people emerging in the political and economic scenario.
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WHO IS Miro Texeira?
Miro Texeira is Brazil's minister of communications. Despite the rupture of his former party, the Partido Democrático Trabalhista (PDT) with the government alliance led by the Partido dos Trabalhadores of President Lula da Silva, Texeira has a key position, in a country where telecommunications attracts vast foreign investment.
Why watch him?
Texeira has kept his position as communications minister despite the tension
generated by the distancing of the PDT from Lula. Texeira has quit the PDT but
still felt obliged to offer to step down from his post. Lula elected to keep
him.
Born: 27 May 1945.
Place of birth: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Education:
Graduated in law from the Facultade Candido Mendes de Rio de Janeiro (1968) and
went on to get a postgrad in penal law.
Public life:
A lawyer and journalist, Texeira is married to Leonora Valladares Sabino Texeira
and has three children, Bruno, Thiago and Rafael. He was a deputy for the old
MDB, now the Partido do Movimento Democrático Brasileiro (PMDB) between 1971
and 1983.
Timeline
1971-1973: Federal deputy for the MDB.
1991-1995 Elected federal deputy for the PDT, a member of the Socialist International.
1995-1998 Re-elected for the PDT, becomes the main spokesman for the opposition in Congress.
1998 Elected for the third time.
2003 President Lula names him as his new communications minister as part of the alliance between the government and the PDT of Senate leader Leonel Brizola.
Strong points
Texeira is a high-profile politician who enjoys a strong personal relationship
with President Lula. Although he is presiding over the revision of
privatisations carried out under the government of Fernando Henrique Cardoso, he
also hopes to receive important direct investment from privatisations in 2004.
Weak points
He was isolated in Lula's government after the bust-up with Brizola, which saw
the PDT and the PT part ways. Although he is now a PDT dissident, some
commentators feel that his former position within the party has resulted in a
loss of clout in the government team.
Prospects
Texeira has been damaged by the rift between the PDT and the PT. It is difficult to assess the exact impact this will have on his position. The PDT was strongly anti-privatisation and pro-state intervention. It will be interesting to see if Texeira feels constrained by this ideology now that he has resigned from the PDT.