Maranhão to Rename Schools Named After Military Presidents

04/01/2015 - 10h00

On 51st anniversary of the 1964 military coup, the Maranhão state government is going to remove the names of military presidents from ten public schools.

The change was announced on Tuesday in the state's official journal, resulting from a decree that governor Flávio Dino (Communist Party of Brazil) made on the first day of his mandate in January.

The text prohibits public assets from receiving the names of living individuals. The veto also extends to anyone - whether living or not - implicated in human rights violations during the military government in the National Truth Commission's final report.

As all of Brazil's presidents during the military period were denounced by the commission, schools with the names of Marshals Castello Branco and Costa e Silva and General Garrastazu Médici will receive new signs in the next few days.

Six schools were named after Castello Branco. In state capital São Luís, his name will be substituted by ex-governor Jackson Lago (PDT), who died in 2011 and whose political group is allied with Dino.

Two schools had the name of Artur de Costa e Silva, Castello Branco's successor. The school in Caxias will be named after the teacher Rita de Cássia Azevedo, while in Timon, the school will take the name of Maria da Conceição Teófilo Silva.

Both schools named after Médici, in the municipalities of Loreto and Timbiras, will receive the name of educator Paulo Freire.

Translated by TOM GATEHOUSE

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	Lauro Vasconcelos/Divulgação
	Schools with the names of Marshals Castello Branco and Costa e Silva and General Garrastazu Médici will receive new signs