Orestes Quércia
Encyclopedia
Orestes Quércia (18 August 1938 — 24 December 2010) was a Brazilian politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...

. He was the 28th governor of São Paulo State.
When young Orestes Quércia moved with his family from Pedregulho to Campinas
Campinas
Campinas is a city and municipality located in the coastal interior of the state of São Paulo, Brazil. is the administrative center of the meso-region of the same name, with 3,783,597 inhabitants as of the 2010 Census, consisting of 49 cities....

, where he graduated in journalism. He was also a lawyer and a entrepreneur
Entrepreneur
An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...

 since 1962 with a diploma from the Pontifícia Universidade Católica
Pontifícia Universidade Católica
Pontifícia Universidade Católica may refer to:* Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro* Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo* Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Campinas* Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Minas Gerais...

.
He was married to Alaíde Barbosa Ulson Quércia since the 80s until his death after a long battle against prostate cancer
Prostate cancer
Prostate cancer is a form of cancer that develops in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system. Most prostate cancers are slow growing; however, there are cases of aggressive prostate cancers. The cancer cells may metastasize from the prostate to other parts of the body, particularly...

 in 24 December 2010 link label. He died with 72 years old, leaving his four children and the wife.

Educational Formation

The son of Otávio Quércia and Isaura Roque Quércia, Orestes Quércia lived in Pedregulho
Pedregulho
Pedregulho is a municipality in the state of São Paulo in Brazil. The population in 2004 is 15,643 and the area is 702.72 km². The elevation is 1,035 m....

 and moved to Campinas
Campinas
Campinas is a city and municipality located in the coastal interior of the state of São Paulo, Brazil. is the administrative center of the meso-region of the same name, with 3,783,597 inhabitants as of the 2010 Census, consisting of 49 cities....

 with the family when teenager. Elected the vice-president of student council
Student council
Student council is a curricular or extra-curricular activity for students within elementary and secondary schools around the world. Present in most public and private K-12 school systems across the United States, Canada and Australia these bodies are alternatively entitled student council, student...

 in his High School, in his senior year he joined as a reporter to the local newspaper Diário do Povo (Campinas)
Diário do Povo (Campinas)
Diário do Povo is a newspaper published in the city of Campinas, state of São Paulo, Brazil.Correio Popular is owned and managed by a larger communications holding company, Rede Anhangüera de Comunicação, which operates a news agency , a printing facility , a polls company and owns also several...

, and got accepted at Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Campinas (PUCC) in the Law School program. At the university he was the director of the newspaper Centro Acadêmico 16 de Abril(journal of Academic Center April 16) and he founded the Universidade de Cultura Popular (University of Popular Culture) linked to the Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Campinas (PUCC). From 1959 to 1963 Quércia was the radio announcer for two radios: Rádio Cultura and Rádio Brasil, he also worked at the newspaper Jornal de Campinas and was the branch of the newspaper Última Hora. Followed by that, he was the president of the press association of Campinas and also worked as a production assistant at the Highways department.

Political Carrier

Orestes Quércia began his political career when was elected alderman
Alderman
An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members themselves rather than by popular vote, or a council...

 of Campinas in the PL (Liberator Party) in 1962. A few years after the multiparty system ended, and he chose the MDB (Brazilian Democratic Movement
Brazilian Democratic Movement
The Brazilian Democratic Movement was a political party in Brazil that existed from 1965 to 1979. It was formed in 1965, when the military government that overthrew President João Goulart abolished all existing political parties...

) and in this party was elected state representative in 1966 and mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....

 of Campinas in 1968.

After electing his successor in 1972, Quércia began organizing directories of his party (MDB) everywhere in the São Paulo state and in the party convention as a candidate for the Senate of Brazil
Senate of Brazil
The Federal Senate of Brazil is the upper house of the National Congress of Brazil. Created by the first Constitution of the Brazilian Empire in 1824, it was inspired by the United Kingdom's House of Lords, but with the Proclamation of the Republic in 1889 it became closer to the United States...

 he won the contest with over Lino de Matos e Samir Achôa. In 1974, he was
elected senator after a tied competition with Carvalho Pinto that was appointed as favorite running for re-election with the ARENA (National Renewal Alliance Party
National Renewal Alliance Party
The National Renewal Alliance Party or Aliança Renovadora Nacional was a conservative political party that existed in Brazil between 1966 and 1985...

). Quércia was very critical about the economic policy during the government of Ernesto Geisel in 1977 and during this period was reported the occurrence of corruption
Corruption
Corruption usually refers to spiritual or moral impurity.Corruption may also refer to:* Corruption , an American crime film* Corruption , a British horror film...

 during his period as a major of Campinas, but the claims were never not proven. The return of multiparty politics made him join to the PMDB party in 1980 and declared himself a candidate to succeed the governor Paulo Maluf in February 1981, a position he maintained until a last-minute deal that made him candidate to vice governor, being Franco Montoro the governor candidate.

In 1982 he was elected vice governor of São Paulo
São Paulo
São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...

, but differently from the image of party unity shown during the campaign, was constant against PMDB politicians linked to the governor, he did not succeed but tried to prevent the Congressman Mário Covas
Mário Covas
Mário Covas Júnior was a Brazilian politician.Covas studied engineering at the Polytechnic School of the University of São Paulo. He entered politics in his native city of Santos, in the state of São Paulo....

 to be the mayor of São Paulo in 1983 and the election of Senator Fernando Henrique Cardoso
Fernando Henrique Cardoso
Fernando Henrique Cardoso – also known by his initials FHC – was the 34th President of the Federative Republic of Brazil for two terms from January 1, 1995 to December 31, 2002. He is an accomplished sociologist, professor and politician...

 to the presidency of the state directory of the PMDB that same year. It was adherent to the Diretas Já
Diretas Já
Diretas Já Now) was a civil unrest movement which, in 1984, demanded direct presidential elections in Brazil.-Participants of the movement: The movement brought together diverse elements of Brazilian society. Participants came from a broad spectrum of political parties, trade unions, civil,...

 and the winning campaign of Tancredo Neves
Tancredo Neves
Tancredo de Almeida Neves, SFO more commonly Tancredo Neves was a Brazilian politician. He was born in São João del Rey, in the state of Minas Gerais, of mostly Portuguese, but also Austrian descent and graduated in law. The Neves family name comes from an Azorean great great grandfather...

 toward the presidency in 1985, the year he married
the doctor Alaíde Cristina Barbosa Ulson. At this moment he was on his way to the candidacy for governor in 1986.

After the victory of former President Jânio Quadros
Jânio Quadros
Jânio da Silva Quadros , , was a Brazilian politician who served as President of Brazil for only 7 months in 1961.-Career:...

 (Brazilian Labour Party
Brazilian Labour Party
Brazilian Labour Party may refer to two different political parties in Brazil:* Brazilian Labour Party , a center-left party founded by supporters of Getúlio Vargas and dismantled after the 1964 military-led coup d'état...

-PTB) over Fernando Henrique Cardoso
Fernando Henrique Cardoso
Fernando Henrique Cardoso – also known by his initials FHC – was the 34th President of the Federative Republic of Brazil for two terms from January 1, 1995 to December 31, 2002. He is an accomplished sociologist, professor and politician...

 in November of that year, Orestes Quércia saw his popularity in the party increase with the movement called "quercismo" which guaranteed its nomination as candidate for governor despite internal dissidence. Candidate in an election polarized initially between deputy Paulo Maluf
Paulo Maluf
Paulo Salim Maluf is a Brazilian politician with a career spanning over four decades and many functions, including those of State Governor of São Paulo, Mayor of the City of São Paulo, Congressman and Presidential candidate. As of 2011, Maluf is on a second consecutive term as Federal Deputy...

 and the businessman Antônio de Morais Ermírio and also had the participation of the deputy Eduardo Suplicy
Eduardo Suplicy
Eduardo Matarazzo Suplicy is a Brazilian left-wing politician, economist and professor. He is one of the founders and main political figures on the Workers Party of Brazil .-Biography:...

, the clash began with low scores in surveys of opinion, however he kept his candidacy and ultimately was victorious. His government was responsible for a big growth economical of the state and for privatization of VASP
VASP
Viação Aérea São Paulo S/A, or VASP, was an airline with its head office in the VASP Building on the grounds of Congonhas-São Paulo Airport in São Paulo, Brazil...

 in 1990, the year in which elected Luiz Antonio Fleury Filho as his successor.

Accusations of Corruption

Quercia's political career was marked by scandals and allegations of
corruption
Corruption
Corruption usually refers to spiritual or moral impurity.Corruption may also refer to:* Corruption , an American crime film* Corruption , a British horror film...

 and illicit enrichment, both in the city of Campinas and in
government of São Paulo. Nevertheless, he never received a final conviction in the instance. He was accused of stealing material from the Roads Department(DER) to build fences on his farm in Pedregulho
Pedregulho
Pedregulho is a municipality in the state of São Paulo in Brazil. The population in 2004 is 15,643 and the area is 702.72 km². The elevation is 1,035 m....

-SP, of
import electronic equipment without competitive bidding of Israel, overbillings
works of the subway, and irregularities in the privatization of VASP
VASP
Viação Aérea São Paulo S/A, or VASP, was an airline with its head office in the VASP Building on the grounds of Congonhas-São Paulo Airport in São Paulo, Brazil...

.
In 1991, the then governor of Parana, Roberto Requiao, a party rival of
Quercia, created the service "Dial Quercia for Corruption", a number of
phone in which the Brazilians could call to report him. Later, the two opponents became political allies. This year, Quercia supported the candidacy of Requião for the presidency.
When he applied for senator in 2010, declared to the Electoral Justice that
his assets totaled $ 117 million. Entrepreneur
Entrepreneur
An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...

 of branches and
communication business, was the owner of Sol Investment Group - New radio controller
Brazil FM, DCI's financial newspaper, affiliated stations of the SBT (TVB
TVB Campinas and Santos), the Shopping Jaragua and several farms.

Elections

Since Quercia left the government of São Paulo in 1991, failed to win any other election- was the PMDB candidate for President in 1994, the state government in 1998/2006 and the Senate in 2002 (would be a candidate for the Senate again in 2010, but renounced
application due to the treatment of prostate cancer).

Quercia had the 4th placed the 1994 election with 2,773,793 votes (4.4% of
valid) - and is behind the victorious Fernando Henrique Cardoso (PSDB)
who got 34,377,198 votes (54.3% of valid), Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
(PT), the 2nd place with 17,126,291 votes (27% valid) and Eneas Ferreira
Carneiro (PRONE) in the 3rd place with 4,672,026 votes (7.4% of valid).

Quercia was the 5th in the 1st round of the 1998 election with 714,097 votes (4.30% of
valid) - behind the 1st place Paulo Maluf (PPB), which won 5,351,026 votes
(32.21% of valid), the then Governor Mario Covas (PSDB), the 2nd place
with 3,813,186 votes (22.95% of valid), then the federal deputy Marta
Suplicy (PT), 3rd place with 3,738,750 votes (22.51% of valid) and
Francis Rossi (PDT), the 4th place with 2,843,515 votes (17.12% of valid).

He was the 3rd place in the 2002 election with 5,550,803 votes (15.8% of valid)
- Behind the then Congressman PT Aloizio Mercadante, a senator-elect
in 1st place with 10,491,345 votes (29.9% of valid) and Senator
PFL Romeu Tuma, re-elected in 2nd place with 7,278,185 votes (20.7% of
valid).

Quercia had the 3rd place in the 2006 election with 977,695 votes (4.57% of valid) -
behind the victorious José Serra (PSDB), who won 12,381,038 votes (57.93% of
valid) and Sen. PT Aloizio Mercadante, who got 6,771,582 votes
(31.68% of valid).

After having supported the victorious campaign Gilberto Kassab (DEM) for mayor of São Paulo in 2008, Quercia was approached by several political leaders to have his support in the 2010 elections as well. the PSDB, Quercia’s party and PMDB entered into partnership supported by Jose Serra, Geraldo Alckmin and Aloysio Nunes. The PT, on the other hand, relied on the movement of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to hold PMDB ruling as vice president. To strengthen the PMDB in São Paulo, Quercia toured many places in the interior getting support from other parties leaders to unite for the election of 2010. But due to a prostate cancer, he left the nomination to the São Paulo Senate on September 6, 2010 to treat the cancer.

Entrepreneur

Quercia invested in properties and in the communication business - was the owner of
Sol Investment Group, which owns and control Brazil FM Radio Nova, the newspaper
Financial DCI, two regional broadcasters, TVB Campinas (from
February, an affiliate of Rede Record) and TVB Santos (from March, affiliate
Rede Bandeirantes
Rede Bandeirantes
Rede Bandeirantes , officially nicknamed Band or Band Network, is a television network from Brazil, based in São Paulo. Part of the Grupo Bandeirantes de Comunicação , it aired for the first time in 1967...

), the Shopping Jaragua and several farms. His assets were valued at over $ 117 million.

Death

Quercia died on Christmas Eve 2010, aged 72, victim of prostate cancer
Prostate cancer
Prostate cancer is a form of cancer that develops in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system. Most prostate cancers are slow growing; however, there are cases of aggressive prostate cancers. The cancer cells may metastasize from the prostate to other parts of the body, particularly...

, according to the Syrian-Lebanese Hospital in São Paulo. He had treated the cancer in 1990, but the tumor recurred, prompting him to give up nomination to the Senate. Quercia’s funeral was held at the Bandeirantes Palace, São Paulo, and he was bared December 25 at the Morumbi Cemetery (Cemitério do Morumbi
Cemitério do Morumbi
Cemitério do Morumbi is a cemetery in São Paulo, Brazil. It's located in the affluent neighborhood of Morumbi.-Notable interments:*Elis Regina - Famous MPB singer who died of an overdose....

).

External links

  • http://www.news1130.com/news/world/article/161557--former-sao-paulo-governor-orestes-quercia-dies-at-72-in-brazil
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