President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva expressed his regret for the death of economist and former minister Antônio Delfim Nettothis Monday (12), at the age of 96, in São Paulo. In a note, Lula also recalled the death of the economist Maria da Conceição Tavaresin June, and stated that Brazil lost “two references in the economic debate in the country”.
“The legacy of the work and thinking of both, divergent, but both of great intelligence and erudition, remains to be debated by future generations of economists and public figures,” he wrote.
Born in São Paulo in May 1928, Delfim Netto was an economist and professor who held positions during the military regime in Brazil, including Minister of Finance, Agriculture and Planning. He was one of the signatories of Institutional Act No. 5 (AI-5) on December 13, 1968, considered the harshest decree since the 1964 military coup, which suspended individual rights and guarantees.
“For 30 years I criticized Delfim Netto. During my campaign in 2006, I publicly apologized because he was one of the greatest defenders of the development and social inclusion policies that I implemented during my first two terms in office. Delfim was very involved in the development of the economic policies of that period. When a political opponent is intelligent, he makes us work to be more intelligent and competent,” said President Lula.
Delfim Netto was a federal deputy in the Constituent Assembly from 1987 to 1991 for the Social Democratic Party, successor to Arena. He was subsequently elected federal deputy for the state of São Paulo five times and remained a representative in the Chamber until 2007.
The president of the National Congress and the Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco, also offered his condolences to the family and friends of the former federal deputy. “A profound expert in economic sciences, he played a prominent role in the history of Brazil since 1967, when he became, at the age of 38, the youngest minister in the country,” he wrote.
The president of the National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES), Aloizio Mercadante, recalled that he and Delfim Netto were deputies during the same period and were together on the Economy Commission, “where there was a qualified debate on national development policies”.
“Despite our political and economic differences throughout our lives, Delfim Netto was always committed to production and economic growth and, even though he was a prominent minister in the military regime – having led the so-called ‘Brazilian miracle’ -, he supported the Lula government at important and challenging times”, he highlighted, also recalling the former professor’s “deep commitment” to the School of Economics, Administration and Accounting at the University of São Paulo (Fea-USP), where Mercadante graduated.
Delfim Netto was Minister of Finance from 1967 to 1974, when Brazil experienced strong economic expansion, a period known as the “economic miracle”. He was also Minister of Planning between 1979 and 1985.
In a statement, the Ministry of Finance stated that the economist was a reference in different phases of the country’s history. “For decades, he fostered essential debates on the conduct of Brazilian economic policy. In this time of mourning, the employees of the Ministry of Finance express their respect and solidarity with Delfim Netto’s family and friends.”
Among other authorities who spoke out about the economist’s death, Supreme Court Justice Dias Toffoli stated that Delfim Netto was a very important figure in Brazilian history over the last 60 years and that it was his “intellectual brilliance” that led him to high positions in the public sphere.
“His thesis for his post-doctorate was on the economy of coffee and, as a result of this, he was one of the mentors of Embrapa, an institution with an undeniable role in the Brazilian agricultural revolution. He was, therefore, a visionary in the revaluation of one of the pillars of the national economy in the 21st century,” he wrote in a note. “An advisor to several presidents of the Republic after the redemocratization, he knew how to value the policies of income distribution and social inclusion. His work during the harshest period of the military regime should be remembered, but it is undeniable that Brazil has lost today one of its greatest intellectuals and thinkers of the Brazilian nation,” the jurist added.
Since August 5, Delfim Netto was hospitalized due to health complications at the Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein, in the capital of São Paulo.
