Brasília, October 7, 2003 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will decree three days' official mourning, beginning tomorrow, for the death of the president of the Globo Organizations, Roberto Marinho. Today, the President released an official note in which he affirms that the country has lost "a man who spent his life believing in Brazil." Lula used a phrase created by the publicist Carlito Maia, who was affiliated with the PT and died in June, 2002, to pay homage to Roberto Marinho: "There are people who enter the world on vacation, and there are people who enter the world on service. Roberto Marinho was a man who entered the world on service - a life that lasted almost a century of services on behalf of communications, education, and the future of Brazil," the President affirmed in his note. The text concludes by paying homage to the family, friends, and employees of the Globo Organizations on the death of Roberto Marinho. The President learned of Marinho's death in the Alvorada Palace, while his was accompanying on the Chamber TV channel the voting on amendments to the Social Security Reform.

President of the Globo Organization, the largest communications group in Brazil, Roberto Marinho died yesterday in consequence of a pulmonary edema. (DAS)