João Figueiredo

João Baptista de Oliveira Figueiredo ( Portuguese: [ʒuˈɐ̃w baˈtʃistɐ dʒi oliˈvejɾɐ fiɡejˈɾedu, ˈʒwɐ̃w -]; 15 January 1918 – 24 December 1999) was a Brazilian military officer who served as the 30th president of Brazil from 1979 to 1985, and the last of the military regime that ruled the country following the 1964 Brazilian coup d'état. He was chief of the Secret Service (SNI) during the term of his predecessor, Ernesto Geisel, who appointed him to the presidency at the end of his own term.

Amendments to the Constitution increased the presidential term length from five to six years, while Figueiredo's presidency continued the political liberalization started under Geisel. Shortly after taking office, he approved a broad amnesty for politicians who had been removed from office under the Institutional Acts. In 1980, the two-party system was abolished, leading to the creation of the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB) as the successor to the MDB and the Democratic Social Party (PDS) as the successor to ARENA, along with several new parties. Figueiredo joined the PDS. On September 22, 1981, he was awarded Portugal's Grand Collar of the Military Order of Saint James of the Sword. In 1982, electoral reforms were introduced to secure a majority for the ruling PDS in the upcoming elections against four opposition parties. However, his presidency saw several terrorist attacks attributed to hardline right-wing and military factions.