José Alencar

From Freepedia

José Alencar Gomes da Silva is the vice president of Brazil since 2002, under president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Born in Muriaé, in the inland state of Minas Gerais in October 17th 1931, he became a successful businessman, and was elected for the Senate in 1998. In 2001 he was selected as Lula´s running mate, in an effort to assuage worries about the then candidate´s supposed anti-business bias. He is the honorary president of Liberal Party a Center-Right party of Brazil.

In office Alencar has often criticized his own government for failing to lower interest rates. In November 2004 he was sworn in as defence minister, following the resignation of José Viegas.