born May 5, 1865, Mimoso, near Cuiabá, Mato Grosso, Braz. died Jan. 19, 1958, Rio de Janeiro Brazilian explorer and protector of Indians. As a young soldier, he was assigned to extend telegraph lines into the Brazilian backlands. In 1913-14 he and U.S. Pres. Theodore Roosevelt headed an expedition that explored a tributary of the Madeira River. In both these undertakings, Rondon came into close contact with the Indians of the interior. Appalled at their mistreatment by developers and settlers, he helped create a government agency for their protection. The state of Rondônia, created in 1982 from the former Guaporé territory, was named for him
born Jan. 25, 1917, Campo Grande, Mato Grosso, Braz. died Feb. 16, 1992, São Paulo President of Brazil (1961). A colourful and eccentric populist, he campaigned with a broom to dramatize his pledge to "sweep out corruption." In his seven months as president, he banned bikini swimsuits and cockfights, reestablished relations with the Soviet Union, decorated Che Guevara, and refused to support the U.S. in the Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba. He attributed his sudden resignation to "terrible forces" conspiring against him. Stripped of political rights and exiled in 1968, he was granted amnesty in 1980 and returned to serve two terms as mayor of São Paulo
known as Lula born Oct. 6, 1945, Garanhuns, Pernambuco state, Braz. Leader of Brazil's leftist Workers' Party. A former factory worker, Lula helped build a labour union movement into an important political party. In 1988 his party swept the municipal elections of São Paulo and other major cities. A leading contender for president in 1989, 1995, and 1998, proposing policies to help Brazil's working class, he lost each time to more conservative candidates. In 2002, however, he was successful in his bid for the presidency. See also Fernando Collor de Mello