Fernando Gabeira

Fernando Gabeira
Member of the Chamber of Deputies
In office
1 February 1995 – 1 February 2011
ConstituencyRio de Janeiro
Personal details
Born
Fernando Paulo Nagle Gabeira

(1941-02-17) 17 February 1941 (age 83)
Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais, Brazil
Political partyPV (1989–2002; 2003–present)
Other political
affiliations
PT (1986–1989; 2002–2003)
Spouses
Yamê Reis
(m. 1983; div. 1999)
Neila Tavares
(m. 2005)
Children2, including Maya
RelativesLeda Nagle (cousin)
ProfessionJournalist
Known forKidnapping of Charles Elbrik

Fernando Paulo Nagle Gabeira (Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation: [feʁˈnɐ̃du ɡaˈbejɾɐ]; born 17 February 1941) is a Brazilian politician, author and journalist. He was a federal representative for the state of Rio de Janeiro from 1995 to 2011.

He is known for his 1979 book O Que É Isso, Companheiro? (loosely translated,[1] What Was That, Man?). The book tells of the armed resistance to the military dictatorship in Brazil, and describes the 1969 kidnapping of American ambassador Charles Burke Elbrick, in which Gabeira took part as a member of MR8, an armed group fighting the military dictatorship then ruling Brazil.

The book was made into a movie in 1997, titled Four Days in September. The movie was nominated for many awards, including an Oscar as Best Foreign Language Film at the 70th Academy Awards. (Dutch film Karakter won the category.)

Because of his role in kidnapping its ambassador, the United States considered Gabeira to be a terrorist[2][3] and refused him a visa to visit the United States.[4][5] Over the years, Gabeira requested and was denied a visa three times.[6] In 1998, he declared a visa denial would speak not of him, but as a U.S. act against Brazilian sovereignty. Folha de São Paulo reported that Gabeira's lack of contrition may have contributed to the continuing refusals.[7] Years later, in a 2009 Ragga interview, Gabeira called the kidnapping a mistake, and acknowledged positive views of the United States, saying Brazil had much it could learn from and admire about the U.S.[8]

  1. ^ "O que é isso companheiro?". 13 July 2010.
  2. ^ "Folha de S.Paulo - EUA negarão visto para Gabeira ir à ONU (com foto) - 03/12/98". www1.folha.uol.com.br. Retrieved 2022-11-07.
  3. ^ "Militante da ALN, que sequestrou embaixador dos EUA, obtém visto". revistaforum.com.br (in Brazilian Portuguese). 8 February 2012. Retrieved 2022-11-07.
  4. ^ Zahar, Andre (16 October 2008). "Em debate, Paes e Gabeira admitem ter fumado maconha no passado" [In debate, Paes and Gabeira admit to having smoked marijuana in the past]. www1.folha.uol.com.br (in Portuguese).
  5. ^ "O incrível sequestro de Charles Elbrick - SUPERINTERESSANTE". Archived from the original on 2009-03-12. Retrieved 2009-10-21.
  6. ^ "Ex-militante recebe visto dos Estados Unidos". Tribuna do Norte. Retrieved 2018-07-11.
  7. ^ "Folha de S.Paulo - EUA negarão visto para Gabeira ir à ONU (Com foto) - 03/12/98".
  8. ^ "Ragga #26 by Ragga - Issuu". 13 May 2009.