Minister S‚rgio Motta dies at 57 - from Brazil Financial Wire
Sao Paulo, 20 - Communications Minister, S‚rgio Motta, died of respiratory infection
late last night, at 57, after spending 13 days in Albert Einstein Hospital, in the capital
city of Sao Paulo. Motta's condition got even more critical Sunday morning, when the
minister showed kidney malfunction and began to depend 100% on an artificial
respiratory device. In addition to a critical respiratory illness, Motta suffered from
diabetes and was cardiac.
President Fernando Henrique Cardoso was shocked when he received the news
around midnight. Motta was Cardoso's personal friend and collaborator. Motta was
the one who negotiated the coalition involving the PSDB, PFL and PMDB parties,
which opened the way for his election as President. The minister was also Cardoso's
informal re-election campaign coordinator. Cardoso, who up until yesterday
participated in the Second Summit of the Americas, in Santiago (Chile), will arrive in
Sao Paulo today to attend Motta's funeral.
Before his condition got any more critical, Motta told his aides they should carry on
the privatization process in the telecommunications sector. Motta's latest political
initiative was submitting to President Cardoso the Telebr s System restructuring
model, earlier this month. (O Estado de S. Paulo/ Jornal da Tarde/ Folha de S.Paulo/
Jornal do Brasil/ O Globo/ Correio Braziliense)
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