Pedro Ernesto do Rego Baptista, or simply "Pedro Ernesto" as he would later be known, was a successful medical

surgeon In medicine, a surgeon is a medical doctor who performs surgery. Even though there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon is a licensed physician and received the same medical training as physicians before spec ...

who became

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

in mid-1931. His two terms were from September 30, 1931, until October 2, 1934; and from April 7, 1935, until April 4, 1936.

Biography

Pedro Ernesto would later be known as the first

Populist Populism is a contested concept used to refer to a variety of political stances that emphasize the idea of the " common people" and often position this group in opposition to a perceived elite. It is frequently associated with anti-establis ...

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

ian

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

. His victory in the elections for mayor was partly due to the backing of then-president of Brazil,

Getúlio Vargas Getúlio Dornelles Vargas (; ; 19 April 1882 – 24 August 1954) was a Brazilian lawyer and politician who served as the 14th and 17th president of Brazil, from 1930 to 1945 and from 1951 until his suicide in 1954. Due to his long and contr ...

. During his term in office, he made several

social Social organisms, including human(s), live collectively in interacting populations. This interaction is considered social whether they are aware of it or not, and whether the exchange is voluntary or not. Etymology The word "social" derives fro ...

and populist reforms in the fields of

health care Health care, or healthcare, is the improvement or maintenance of health via the preventive healthcare, prevention, diagnosis, therapy, treatment, wikt:amelioration, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other disability, physic ...

education Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...

, and

indigenous culture There is no generally accepted definition of Indigenous peoples, although in the 21st century the focus has been on self-identification, cultural difference from other groups in a state, a special relationship with their traditional territ ...

(to his credit stands the revival of the

Samba Samba () is a broad term for many of the rhythms that compose the better known Brazilian music genres that originated in the Afro-Brazilians, Afro Brazilian communities of Bahia in the late 19th century and early 20th century, It is a name or ...

). He quickly became the most popular

in Brazil, and was even considered as a suitable candidate for the future

presidential election A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The p ...

s of 1938. In 1936, however, Ernesto was charged with participation in a

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

conspiracy A conspiracy, also known as a plot, ploy, or scheme, is a secret plan or agreement between people (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder, treason, or corruption, especially with a political motivat ...

against the government, and was arrested. He spent the next few years defending himself against charges of

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state (polity), state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to Coup d'état, overthrow its government, spy ...

, and was eventually absolved. By then, however, Vargas had already launched his

autocratic Autocracy is a form of government in which absolute power is held by the head of state and Head of government, government, known as an autocrat. It includes some forms of monarchy and all forms of dictatorship, while it is contrasted with demo ...

"New State" ( Estado Novo), erasing the possibility of

democratic election An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operated s ...

Pedro Ernesto Medal

In October 1980, the

Municipal Chamber of Rio de Janeiro The Municipal Chamber of Rio de Janeiro is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislative body of the city of Rio de Janeiro. It was founded in 1565 by the Portuguese colonists. External links Website
Municipal chambers in Brazil Politics o ...

, whose building is called "Pedro Ernesto Palace", instituted a medal with his name, considered the maximum commendation of the municipality. It was severely questioned in 2006, after the ex-deputy

Roberto Jefferson Roberto Jefferson Monteiro Francisco (born 14 June 1953) is a Brazilian politician. Personal life and education He was born on 14 June 1953, in Petrópolis, in the state of Rio de Janeiro. He is the son of Neusa Dalva Monteiro Francisco and Rob ...

, confessed defendant and impeached for participating in the "

mensalão scandal The Mensalão scandal (, ) was a major parliamentary alleged vote-buying scandal by Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's administration that threatened to bring down his government in 2005. ''Mensalão'' is a neologism, an augmentative variant of the w ...

", was decorated with it by his own daughter, councilor

Cristiane Brasil Cristiane Brasil Francisco, commonly known as Cristiane Brasil (born 21 December 1973), is a Brazilian lawyer and politician. Former member of the Brazilian Labor Party (PTB), had been Federal Deputy, representing the state of Rio de Janeiro b ...

. The cartoonist "Jaguar" returned his medal, given eight years earlier by the then councilman

Chico Alencar Francisco Rodrigues de Alencar Filho, known as Chico Alencar (born 19 October 1949), is a Brazilian politician, historian, and writer, affiliated with the Socialism and Liberty Party (PSOL). Alencar was first elected as a Councillor, representi ...

References

Bibliography

Michael L. Conniff, “Brazil’s Populist Republic and Beyond”, in Conniff (ed.), Populism in Latin America
*

External links

Brazilian surgeons Mayors of Rio de Janeiro (city) 1884 births 1942 deaths {{Brazil-politician-stub