Fernando Henrique asks: "What is life?"
And she adds: "No, there's no answer," in an interview with Eric Nepomuceno that will air today on Canal Brasil.
In an intimate tone, former president Fernando Henrique Cardoso (PSDB) acknowledged a certain loneliness in power and revealed, after turning 80, that he is unsure if he will be remembered in the long term. In an interview given to journalist Eric Nepomuceno, which will be broadcast at 21 pm tonight on Canal Brasil, the former president stated that he is terrified of becoming semi-lucid or semi-paralyzed and that he converses, through memory, "with those who have already passed away." "I keep imagining what so-and-so, especially Ruth Cardoso, would say in a certain circumstance," he said. In the brief conversation, the former president described his loneliness as significant and stressed that those in power must "take precautions they wouldn't normally need to take."
"It's not loneliness in the sense that you're not surrounded by people, but rather that you have to be very reserved about many things, because everything you say circulates," he emphasized. "And certain matters of power are yours alone; you can't delegate them, you don't even have anyone to talk to," he added. The former president considers himself a happy person and believes that life owes him nothing. "I think I owe something to life; I have nothing to complain about," he stated. "I don't feel like I'm indebted to others; perhaps I should give back for much of what I've received," he concluded.
The politician admitted that he is not sure if, in the long term, he will be remembered. In the short term, he said he believes he will be remembered for stabilizing the economy and for being a democrat. "In history, people are judged, rejudged, judged again, and future perception varies," he said. "I don't pretend to have a stable judgment," he stated.
He also said that he could have been more audacious in his youth and was categorical when asked if he had any frustrations in his political career. "In politics, I have no frustrations," he replied. The politician also considered that, if he hadn't lost the elections for Mayor of São Paulo in 1985, "he probably wouldn't have been anything more." "I lacked maturity," he observed. He also acknowledged that the Cuban Revolution of 1959 was a "very strong mark" and a "very significant" event.
"I think that, for my generation, the Cuban Revolution was a very strong mark; I haven't said a single word of criticism about the Cuban Revolution," he recalled. "I know what happened afterward, but I think that doesn't erase what it meant at that moment." He also admitted that one of his anxieties is death. "Not that I suffer the anguish of death, but the anguish of death means: And what is life for? What is life?" he replied. "There is no answer."