The Communist Party of Brazil (PCdoB) announced this Sunday (15) that the party’s former president Renato Rabelo died at the age of 83. The Bahian politician is considered by the party to be one of the most important leaders in its history.
Rabelo presided over the PCdoB from 2001 to 2015. Since 2023, the politician has dedicated himself to taking care of his health, having recently fought cancer. He leaves his wife, Conceição Leiro Vilan, and children.
“Renato was one of the organizers, for the PCdoB, together with João Amazonas, of the Frente Brasil Popular (PT, PSB, PCdoB), which launched, in 1989, the first and remarkable candidacy of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva for president of the Republic, a journey that would be victorious with the election of the [petista] in 2002”, adds an excerpt in the note released by the party.
The politician was national vice-president of the National Union of Students (UNE) and faced repression during the first years of the military dictatorship of 1964. He was already a member of Ação Popular (AP) and was part of the leadership group that led to that organization’s integration into the PCdoB in 1973.
Rabelo was exiled in France, during the Lapa Massacre, in 1976, when PCdoB leaders were murdered, arrested and tortured. The politician returned to Brazil with the 1979 amnesty
Throughout his work, he dedicated himself, in particular, to strengthening PCdoB’s relations with socialist countries, such as China, Vietnam and Cuba.
After leaving the presidency of the PCdoB, Rabelo assumed the presidency of the Maurício Grabois Foundation, in April 2016. At the entity, he headed a study program on contemporary capitalism, the struggle for socialism and the challenges of national development.
In 2025, he was named honorary president of the Foundation, praising his achievements. “Renato belongs to the breed of those who do not turn away from history when it becomes harsh. He faced defeats without renouncing principles, went through profound transformations in the world without losing his way, knew how to renew ideas without breaking with convictions”, highlights the entity in a note released this Sunday.
*With information from Estadão Conteúdo
