Fernando Gabeira

Fernando Paulo Nagle Gabeira (Brazilian Portuguese: [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, 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 and refused him a visa to visit the United States. Over the years, Gabeira requested and was denied a visa three times. In 1998, he declared a visa denial would speak not of him, but as a U.S. act against Brazilian sovereignty. Folha de S.Paulo reported that Gabeira's lack of contrition may have contributed to the continuing refusals. 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.