Page 28 - Suape 45 Anos

missioned by the Gueiros administration, was concluded in 1972 and None of this, according to Hélcias, happened by chance. Suape
reported ideal conditions for installation of the undertaking. had a direct influence on the appointment of Eraldo Gueiros’s suc-
Invited by Eraldo Gueiros to join the team, Anchieta Hélcias tur- cessor. The governor did not want to run the risk of seeing the in-
ned from volunteer promoting the port to one of those tasked by the dustrial port dwindle in importance in the succeeding administra-
Governor with bringing the project to fruition. Ten days after Gueiros’s tion. Worse still: he did not want to see the project shelved. It was,
inauguration, Hélcias took on the recently created post of Director of therefore, with their commitment to consolidating the undertaking
Promotion and Investment of the Pernambuco Industrial Develop- in mind, that Gueiros put forward the names of two candidates to
ment Company (Diper), which is now called the Pernambuco Deve- then President of the Republic, Ernesto Geisel. Moura Cavalcanti fa-
lopment Agency (Adepe). Later on, Hélcias was made its president. ced off against Marco Maciel, who was eventually passed over, it is
For eight long years from that moment on, he remained firm in his said, because the President considered him still too young for such
commitment to the mission of getting Suape off the drawing board. an important post.
Moura Cavalcanti’s Deputy Governor, Paulo Gustavo Cunha, was
Suape as a factor in Gueiros’s succession also chosen because Suape numbered among his priorities. In the
In the succeeding administration of José Francisco de Mou- Nilo Coelho administration, between 1967 and 1971, Paulo had held
ra Cavalcanti, Suape did not cease to be accorded priority. On the the post of Trade and Industry Secretary, and had remained in this
contrary, it was treated as a cross-cutting project, involving various post under Eraldo Gueiros.
departments. Anchieta Hélcias remained part of the management - I was with him when President Geisel rang to tell Gueiros that
team and joined the governor’s cabinet, as secretary responsible for Moura Cavalcanti had been picked for Governor. Gilberto Gueiros,
the Trade and Industry portfolio. In the first meeting with Moura Ca- Eraldo’s son, and I relayed the news to Moura, who had to be in Bra-
valcanti, it was suggested that a Suape Executive Group be created, sília the next day. I went with him.
and this was duly done. The industrial port project had finally gotten Another important figure in the history of Suape at that time
off the ground. was Júlio Araújo, Hélcias’s and later Gueiros’s Chief of Staff, and Pre-
The head of each department dealt with their own area from an sident of Diper under the Moura Cavalcanti administration.
operational point of view. Hélcias played a different role. He did not Looking back on the pre-Suape period, Anchieta Hélcias provi-
want to manage people. He wanted to manage ideas. And, for this des a straightforward account of the development of the project.
reason, he set about seeking out the best technical experts. From - The first eight years were fundamental in laying the groundwork
Brasília, for example, he brought the geologist Luiz Siqueira, who for Suape. After Eraldo and Moura, came Marco Maciel and Roberto
had already headed up Diper. Magalhães, and all subsequent State governors of Pernambuco, wi-

28 | Suape 45 anos