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Vasco de Almeida e Costa

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Vasco de Almeida e Costa
135th Governor of Macau
In office
16 June 1981 – 14 May 1986
PresidentAntónio Ramalho Eanes
Mário Soares
Prime MinisterFrancisco José Pereira Pinto Balsemão
Mário Alberto Nobre Lopes Soares
Aníbal António Cavaco Silva
Preceded byNuno de Melo Egídio
Succeeded byJoaquim Pinto Machado
Acting Prime Minister of Portugal
In office
23 June 1976 – 23 July 1976
PresidentFrancisco da Costa Gomes
António Ramalho Eanes
Preceded byJosé Pinheiro de Azevedo
Succeeded byMário Soares
Minister of the Internal Administration
In office
19 September 1975 – 22 July 1976
Prime MinisterJosé Pinheiro de Azevedo
Preceded byAlfredo Cândido de Moura
Succeeded byManuel da Costa Brás
Personal details
Born(1932-07-24)24 July 1932[citation needed]
São Sebastião da Pedreira, Lisbon, Portugal[citation needed]
Died26 July 2010(2010-07-26) (aged 78)
Lisbon, Portugal
Political partyIndependent
SpouseMaria Claudiana da Costa de Faria Araújo
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese高斯達
Simplified Chinese高斯达
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinGāo Sīdá
Yue: Cantonese
Jyutpinggou1 si1 daat6

Vasco Fernando Leote de Almeida e Costa, GCIH, GCL (24 July 1932[citation needed] – 26 July 2010) was a Portuguese naval officer and politician.

Biography

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He served as Minister of Internal Administration during José Pinheiro de Azevedo's government, between 19 September 1975 and 23 July 1976. He also had an important role during the Portuguese decolonization period. From 23 June 1976 he became interim Prime Minister after Pinheiro de Azevedo suffered a heart attack during his presidential campaign. He remained Prime Minister of Portugal as an interim official for the rest of Pinheiro de Azevedo's mandate, when he was substituted by the democratically elected Mário Soares. He was also the 134th Governor of Macau from 16 June 1981 to 15 May 1986. His reign in the colony was marked by considerable infrastructure development.[1] Costa's decision to dissolve the local Legislative Assembly amid intensified power struggle with the local Macanese community was a major political crisis at that time.[2] To balance the predominant Macanese legislature, he proposed electoral reform that empowered the Chinese business community and elites.[3] During his tenure, Costa twice threatened to pull out of Macao unilaterally amid tense debate on the year of Handover.[4]

He was the son of Américo de Almeida e Costa and wife Julieta da Conceição Leote and married in Viana do Castelo, Meadela, at the Chapel of São Vicente, on 11 January 1959 to Maria Claudiana da Costa de Faria Araújo (b. Viana do Castelo, Meadela, House of o Ameal, 17 May 1934), one of the fourteen children of a couple of Northern Portuguese Nobility, and by whom he had issue.

He died just after his 78th birthday.

References

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  1. ^ Lo, Sonny (2009). "Casino Capitalism and Its Legitimacy Impact on the Politico-administrative State in Macau". Journal of Current Chinese Affairs. 38 (1): 23. doi:10.1177/186810260903800103. ISSN 1868-1026.
  2. ^ Yee, Herbert S.; Lo, Sonny S. H. (1991). "Macau in Transition: The Politics of Decolonization". Asian Survey. 31 (10): 908. doi:10.2307/2645063. ISSN 0004-4687. JSTOR 2645063.
  3. ^ Lo, Shiu-hing (1989). "Aspects of Political Development in Macao". China Quarterly. 120: 845. doi:10.1017/S030574100001849X. ISSN 0305-7410. S2CID 155080531.
  4. ^ Chang, Jaw-ling Joanne (1988). "Settlement of the Macao Issue: Distinctive Features of Beijing's Negotiating Behavior". Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law. 20 (1): 261. ISSN 0008-7254.
Political offices
Preceded by Prime Minister of Portugal
(Interim)

1976
Succeeded by
Preceded by Governor of Macau
1981–1986
Succeeded by