O Preventive Coup of 1955 is also known as November 11th Movement and was characterized by being a self-coup performed by Henrique Teixeira Lott with the objective of guaranteeing the legality and the possession of Juscelino Kubitschek, supposedly threatened by a political coup that was being organized by UDN.
Background
In 1955, Brazil was experiencing a strong political crisis, a direct consequence of the suicide of Getúlio Vargas in 1954. Since Vargas' death, Brazil was governed by the vice president, Café Filho. As the elections approached, the political crisis deepened, with certain groups in our politics defending a posture that interrupted the democratic continuity in the country.
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President Café Filho would remain in office until January 31, 1956, when he would then hand it over to a new president. This new president would be defined after the elections in October 1955. However, the continuity of democracy in Fourth Brazilian Republic suffered strong threat.
THE UnitydemocraticNational (UDN) was a liberal-oriented conservative party and had been defeated in the last two elections for the PTB/PSD ticket. The udenista candidate (Eduardo Gomes) lost in 1945 to Eurico Gaspar Dutra and, in 1950, to Getúlio Vargas. In 1955, the UDN was again in a delicate situation, as the party's pre-candidates did not have the same strength as the possible PSD/PTB candidacy.
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Thus, members of the UDN, among which stands out Carloslacerda, began to attack democracy and constitutional legality, starting to defend the annulment of the 1955 elections and the formation of an “emergency government”. This posture, understood as a coup, was a serious attack on Brazilian democracy.
In any case, the 1955 elections were held and had the following candidates:
juscelinoKubitschek (PSD/PTB): 36% of the votes
juarezTavora (UDN): 30% of votes
Ademarinclays (PSP): 26% of the votes
Plinysalty (PRP): 8% of votes
For the post of vice president, the winner was the candidate of the PSD/PTB ticket, the Rio Grande do Sul politician João Goulart. JK's victory alarmed the udenistas, who intensified their efforts in attacking their opponents' possession. Many even started to advocate a military coup to stop JK and impose the desired “emergency government”.
Preventive Coup of 1955
With this political stalemate and the threat to democracy, tempers rose. Part of the udenistas defended a coup to prevent JK from being sworn in. The great obstacle for the udenistas was a person who occupied a very important position in the government: the marshal Henrique Teixeira Lott.
The military occupied the Mwar ministry and was known to be a staunch advocate of legality. The Brazilian minister took action prominently in November 1955. On the 1st, the colonel Jurandir Mamede he spoke in defense of the military coup and infuriated Lott. The minister asked the president to punish the colonel, but Café Filho did not do it, as he was hospitalized due to health problems.
The new president in office was CarlosLight, who already commanded the Chamber of Deputies and assumed the presidency of the country on November 8th. However, he was politically opposed to JK and was in favor of the idea of preventing the Minas Gerais politician from taking office. Carlos Luz even refused to punish the rebel colonel (Mamede).
Enraged, Lott resigned from the War Ministry on November 10, but the next day, supported by many army generals, he organized a kickback fulminating. The action led by Lott became known as the 1955 Preventive Coup and was responsible for removing Carlos Luz and putting an end to any threat of the coup that could be carried out by the UDN.
The new president of Brazil, Nereu Ramos, who presided over the Senate, governed the country in a state of siege until the inauguration of Juscelino Kubitschek, on November 31, 1955.
*Image credits: FGV/CPDOC
