An autopsy on former Brazilian president Joao Goulart has failed to show traces of poison and while it is possible he was assassinated, he could have died of natural causes, officials said Monday.
The tests on the remains of Goulart, who was in office from 1961 until the military coup which ousted him three years later, did not indicate death by poisoning, the fate his family believe he suffered.
Experts who performed the autopsy said their analysis could only be inconclusive given the time that had elapsed since his 1976 death in exile in Argentina.
"The samples analyzed did not turn up any toxic medication or poison," media quoted federal police forensic expert Jefferson Correa as saying.
Correa added the data collected from the autopsy carried out by experts from Brazil, Cuba, Uruguay and Argentina as well as European colleagues could be seen as "compatible with death from natural causes."
He went on: "Could acute myocardial infarction (heart failure) be the cause of death, as listed as the cause on the president's death certificate? Yes."
But Correa explained the time that had elapsed in the 38 intervening years meant any result could not be conclusive.
Therefore, "it is not possible to rule out poisoning, taking into account physical and chemical changes. Some substances disappear from the body over time."
Officially, Goulart died of a heart attack, a verdict backed by earlier studies of his remains in laboratories in Brazil, Portugal and Spain but contested by his relatives.
The former president's son, Joao Vicente Goulart, said his family had expected the inconclusive outcome and would "continue to fight" to learn the real cause of death.
Goulart's remains were exhumed in November last year at the behest of Brazil's Truth Commission investigating human rights violations during military rule.
Former Uruguayan intelligence agent Mario Neira, in custody in Brazil for arms trafficking, claimed in 2006 agents from his country poisoned Goulart as part of Operation Condor, comprising coordinated repression orchestrated by South American military regimes against political opponents.
An autopsy on former Brazilian president Joao Goulart has failed to show traces of poison and while it is possible he was assassinated, he could have died of natural causes, officials said Monday.
The tests on the remains of Goulart, who was in office from 1961 until the military coup which ousted him three years later, did not indicate death by poisoning, the fate his family believe he suffered.
Experts who performed the autopsy said their analysis could only be inconclusive given the time that had elapsed since his 1976 death in exile in Argentina.
“The samples analyzed did not turn up any toxic medication or poison,” media quoted federal police forensic expert Jefferson Correa as saying.
Correa added the data collected from the autopsy carried out by experts from Brazil, Cuba, Uruguay and Argentina as well as European colleagues could be seen as “compatible with death from natural causes.”
He went on: “Could acute myocardial infarction (heart failure) be the cause of death, as listed as the cause on the president’s death certificate? Yes.”
But Correa explained the time that had elapsed in the 38 intervening years meant any result could not be conclusive.
Therefore, “it is not possible to rule out poisoning, taking into account physical and chemical changes. Some substances disappear from the body over time.”
Officially, Goulart died of a heart attack, a verdict backed by earlier studies of his remains in laboratories in Brazil, Portugal and Spain but contested by his relatives.
The former president’s son, Joao Vicente Goulart, said his family had expected the inconclusive outcome and would “continue to fight” to learn the real cause of death.
Goulart’s remains were exhumed in November last year at the behest of Brazil’s Truth Commission investigating human rights violations during military rule.
Former Uruguayan intelligence agent Mario Neira, in custody in Brazil for arms trafficking, claimed in 2006 agents from his country poisoned Goulart as part of Operation Condor, comprising coordinated repression orchestrated by South American military regimes against political opponents.
