Fradique de Menezes
Fradique Melo de Menezes ( born March 21, 1942 in Água telha ) was 2001-2011 President of São Tomé and Príncipe. From the São Toméern he is addressed only by his first name.
Political career
He was born at the time belonged to Portugal São Tomé Island, the son of a Portuguese and locals. After school he studied at the University of Brussels psychology and pedagogy, as well as at the Chicago Board of Trade International Business beings. Later he was employed as a soldier in the Portuguese army in Mozambique. As São Tomé and Príncipe on July 12, 1975, regardless, he joined the former independence movement Movimento de São Tomé e Príncipe de Libertação ( MLSTP ), which ruled the country in the subsequent period as a unit party. He first worked in the Department of Agriculture, but switched in 1977 to the private sector. In 1981 he was ambassador in different countries.
From 1986 to 1987 he was Secretary of State and Ambassador to the European Community and a number of international organizations and European states. As from 1989 the gradual introduction of democracy, he went into the private sector. He became a successful businessman as an exporter of cocoa and importer of cement. In the first multi-party elections in 1991, he was elected for the acção Democrática Independente (FDI) into Parliament in 1992 and president of the Commerce and Industry Chamber. In 1993 he took over the chairmanship of the ADI.
President
Since President Miguel Trovoada could stand no more time after two terms in 2001, whose party ADI Menezes nominated as presidential candidate. To this end he had to give up his Portuguese nationality. In the elections on 29 July 2001, he sat down with 56.31 % of the vote by the first ballot. Secondly, the former president Manuel Pinto Costa, who received 38.73 % lay there. On 3 September 2001 he took office. In September, he called his former cabinet director Evaristo Carvalho as the new prime minister and replaced on 8 December 2001, the Parliament. The elections on March 3, 2002 brought a stalemate, which was overcome by the formation of a coalition government in April.
On 16 July 2003 it came while he was in Nigeria to a register held by Fernando Pereira coup against President Menezes and the incumbent government since October 2002 by Maria das Neves. After negotiations, international mediation and an amnesty for those involved, the rebellion was ended peacefully after seven days.
In the meantime, discovered oil deposits led to increased revenue of the previously very poor country. Associated with this are also allegations of corruption against the President, the Prime Minister and individual ministers rapidly changing, with the president and former government blaming each other. Since April 21, 2006 officiated by Tomé Vera Cruz already the seventh government since he took office. Fradique de Menezes was re-elected in the 2006 presidential elections with 60.0 % of the votes, his rival candidate Patrice Trovoada reached 38.5 % of the vote.
His term ends with the presidential elections on 17 July 2011 as Fradique the Constitution must govern any third term.