Brazil's former president exhumed
Brazil's former president exhumed
15 November 2013 05:44
Baku-APA. Full funerary state honors were bestowed upon former Brazilian President Joao Goulart for the first time Thursday, nearly 37 years after his death, APA reports quoting CNN.
Goulart, who was president from 1961-1964, was deposed in a coup and died in exile. The ceremony in the Brazilian capital provided the proper official ceremony to which deceased heads of state in Brazil are entitled.
President Dilma Rousseff placed flowers on top of the casket and presented the flag that had been draped over it to Goulart's widow. But the remains of the former president were exhumed for purposes other than a funeral ceremony.
Goulart died in exile in Argentina of a heart attack in 1976, but there have long been suspicions that he was murdered. Poisoned, to be exact. The former president's body was exhumed so that investigators in Brazil and abroad can study the remains in hopes of clarifying how he died.
"It is Brazil's duty to clarify the circumstances surrounding the death of President Joao Goulart," said Maria do Rosario, Brazil's secretariat of human rights.
More:
http://en.apa.az/news/202725
