Bete Mendes was born Elizabeth Mendes de Oliveira in Santos, São Paulo. She is the daughter of Osmar Pires de Oliveira, a Sub-Lieutenant of the Brazilian Air Force, and Maria Mendes de Oliveira. She acted in school plays since she was 5.
However, her artistic career really began at age 15, in her hometown of Santos, in the role of bunny Naná in the play A Árvore que Andava, by Oscar Von Phull.[2]
She performed by the first time in theatre with the play A Cozinha (The kitchen) on 1968. At that same year, she had a prominent role in the popular TV Tupisoap operaBeto Rockfeller.
On 1970, Mendes was arrested by the DOI-CODI, being held as prisoner for four years. Between September and October 1974, she was once again detained, this time being tortured. She was acquitted by the Superior Tribunal Militar (Superior Military Court), being released after spending 30 days in prison. Upon her release, she decided to quit the Sociology School.
Mendes actively participated in several social movements, such as for the professional regulation of artists (achieved in 1978) and the movement for the amnesty. She supported the strikes of metalworkers in the ABC Region, where she became familiar with Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, then a growing figure in the Brazilian political scene. Along with Lula, Mendes was one of the founding members of the Workers' Party, by which she was elected Congresswoman for the 1983-87 term.
On 15 January 1985, Mendes was expelled from the Workers' Party for having voted, in the Electoral college (indirect election system), for Tancredo Neves as President. She was re-elected for the Congress by the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party, but this time she was a member of the National Constituent Assembly. Mendes was also Secretary of Culture in the state of São Paulo between 15 March 1987 and 21 December 1988, and president of the Fundação de Artes do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (Arts Foundation of the State of Rio de Janeiro) in 1999.
Brilhante Ustra case
When exercising her second term as congresswoman, Mendes joined the entourage of President José Sarney on an official visit to Uruguay. On 17 August 1985, she discovered that among the officers of the Brazilian Embassy in Uruguay were Carlos Alberto Brilhante Ustra, the man who tortured her in prison.[3]
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