THE Military Dictatorship in Brazil it was an authoritarian regime that began with the military coup on March 31, 1964, with the deposition of President João Goulart.
The military regime lasted 21 years (1964-1985), established press censorship, restriction of political rights and police persecution of opponents of the regime.
The March 31, 1964 Coup
The military coup of March 31, 1964 was aimed at preventing the advance of popular organizations in the government of João Goulart, accused of being a communist.
The starting point was the resignation of President Jânio Quadros, on August 25, 1961. The National Congress temporarily sworn in the president of the Chamber, Deputy Ranieri Mazzili, as the vice president was on a trip to China.
While João Goulart began his return trip, the military ministers vetoed Jango's inauguration, as they maintained that he defended left-wing ideas.
The impediment violated the Constitution, and was not accepted by several segments of the nation, which began to mobilize. Demonstrations and strikes spread across the country.
Faced with the threat of civil war, the proposal for Constitutional Amendment No. 4 was made in Congress, establishing the parliamentary regime in Brazil.
In this way, Goulart would be president, but with limited powers. Jango accepted the reduction of his powers, hoping to get him back in due course.
Congress voted in favor of the measure and Goulart took office on September 7, 1961. To occupy the position of prime minister, deputy Tancredo Neves was appointed.
Parliamentarianism lasted until January 1963, when a plebiscite ended the short republican parliamentary period.
João Goulart government
In 1964, Jango resolves to launch "Basic Reforms" in order to change the country. So the president announced:
- Land expropriations;
- nationalization of oil refineries;
- electoral reform guaranteeing the vote for the illiterate;
- university reform, among others.
Inflation reached in 1963, the rate of 73.5%. The president demanded a new constitution that would put an end to the "archaic structures" of Brazilian society.
The president was supported by university students who worked through their organizations and one of the main ones was the National Union of Students (UNE).
Likewise, the communists of various tendencies developed intense work of organization and popular mobilization, despite acting illegally. In the face of growing unrest, the government's opponents accelerated the implementation of the coup.
On March 31, 1964, President João Goulart was deposed by the military and Jango took refuge in Uruguay. Those who tried to resist the blow were severely repressed.
To fill the power vacuum, a military junta took control of the country. On April 9th, Institutional Act No. 1 was enacted, empowering Congress to elect the new president. The chosen one was General Humberto de Alencar Castelo Branco, who had been the army's chief of staff.
This was just the beginning of military interference in the political management of Brazilian society.
the concentration of power
After the 1964 coup, the established political model aimed to strengthen the executive power. Seventeen institutional acts and about a thousand exceptional laws were imposed on Brazilian society.
With Institutional Act No. 2, the old political parties were closed and bipartisanship was adopted. Thus emerged:
- the National Renewal Alliance (Arena), which supported the government;
- the Brazilian Democratic Movement (MDB), representing the opponents, but surrounded by narrow limits of action.
The government, through the creation of the National Information Service (SNI), set up a strong control system that made resistance to the regime difficult. Headed by General Golbery do Couto e Silva, this body investigated all those suspected of conspiring against the regime, from businessmen to students.
In economic terms, the military tried to recover the country's credibility with foreign capital. Thus, the following measures were taken:
- containment of wages and labor rights;
- increased tariffs for public services;
- credit restriction;
- cut government spending;
- decrease in inflation, which was around 90% a year.
Among the military, however, there was disagreement. The more radical group, known as the "hard line", pressured the group from Castelo Branco, so that it would not admit attitudes of dissatisfaction and distance civilians from the nucleus of political decisions.
Internal differences between the military influenced the choice of the new general president.
On March 15, 1967, General Artur da Costa e Silva, linked to the radicals, took power. The new 1967 Constitution had already been approved by the National Congress.
The institutional acts promulgated during the governments of Generals Castello Branco (1964-1967) and Artur da Costa e Silva (1967-1969), the practice, ended the rule of law and the democratic institutions of the parents.
Despite all the repression, the new president faced difficulties. The Frente Amplio was formed to oppose the government, led by the journalist Carlos Lacerda and the former president Juscelino Kubitschek.
society's resistance
Society reacted to government arbitrariness and we can cite an example in the art world. In 1965, the play "Liberdade, Liberdade" by Millôr Fernandes and Flavio Rangel was staged, criticizing the military government.
Brazilian music festivals were important scenarios for the performance of composers, who composed protest songs.
The Catholic Church was divided: the more traditional groups supported the government, but the more progressive ones criticized the doctrine of national security.
Workers' strikes demanded an end to the wage squeeze and wanted freedom to structure their unions. Students marched complaining about the lack of political freedom.
With increasing repression and the difficulty of mobilizing the population, some left-wing leaders organized armed groups to fight the dictatorship. Among the various leftist organizations were the National Liberation Action (ALN) and the October 8 Revolutionary Movement (MR-8).
The strong climate of tension was aggravated by the speech of congressman Márcio Moreira Alves, who asked the people not to attend the September 7th celebrations.
To contain the opposition demonstrations, General Costa e Silva decreed in December 1968, the Institutional Act No. 5. This suspended the activities of Congress and authorized the persecution of opponents.
In August 1969, President Costa e Silva suffered a stroke and assumed Vice President Pedro Aleixo, a civil politician from Minas Gerais.
In October 1969, 240 general officers appointed General Emílio Garrastazu Médici (1969-1974), former head of the SNI, for president. In January 1970, a decree-law tightened prior press censorship.
To fight against leftist groups, the Army created the Information Operations Detachment - Internal Defense Operations Center (DOI-CODI).
The activity of Organs repressive bodies dismantled urban and rural guerrilla organizations, which led to the death of dozens of leftist militants.
economic growth
With a strong repressive scheme in place, Médici ruled trying to convey the image that the country had found the path to economic development. Added to the conquest of the 1970 World Cup, this ended up creating a euphoric atmosphere in the country.
The loss of political freedoms was offset by increasing modernization. Oil, wheat and fertilizers, which Brazil imported in large quantities, were cheap, were incorporated into the export basket, soy, minerals and fruits.
The sector that grew the most was durable goods, household appliances, cars, trucks and buses. The construction industry grew.
More than 1 million new homes, financed by the National Housing Bank (BNH), were built in ten years of military rule. There was talk of "Brazilian miracle" or "economic miracle".
Aerial view of the General Dale Coutinho housing complex built through BNH financing, in Santos, in 1979.
In 1973, the "miracle" suffered its first difficulty, as the international crisis abruptly raised the price of oil, making exports more expensive.
The increase in interest rates in the international financial system raised the interest rate on the Brazilian external debt. This forced the government to take out new loans, further increasing the debt.
The Redemocratization
On March 15, 1974, Médici was replaced as President by General Ernesto Geisel (1974-1979). He took over promising to resume economic growth and re-establish democracy.
Even slow and controlled, the political opening began, which allowed the growth of oppositions.
The Geisel government increased the state's share of the economy. Several infrastructure projects continued, including the Steel Railroad in Minas Gerais, the construction of the Tucuruí hydroelectric plant on the Tocantins River and the Carajás Project.
He diversified Brazil's diplomatic trade and diplomatic relations, seeking to attract new investments.
In the 1974 elections, the opposition, united in the MDB, won a wide victory. At the same time, Geisel sought to contain this advance by limiting electoral propaganda during the 1976 elections.
The following year, given the MDB's refusal to approve the reform of the Constitution, Congress was closed and the president's term was extended to six years.
The opposition began to put pressure on the government, along with civil society. With increasing pressure, Congress already reopened, in 1979, to revoke AI-5. Congress could no longer be closed, nor could citizens' political rights be revoked.
Geisel chose as his successor General João Baptista Figueiredo, who was indirectly elected. Figueiredo took office on March 15, 1979, with a commitment to deepen the process of political opening.
However, the economic crisis continued, with the external debt reaching more than 100 billion dollars, and inflation reaching 200% a year.
Political reforms continued to be carried out, but the hardliners resorted to terrorism such as what happened in Riocentro in 1981. Several parties emerged, including the Social Democratic Party (PDS) and the Workers Party (PT). The Única dos Trabalhadores (CUT) was founded.
The spaces for fighting for the end of the presence of the military in central power were multiplying.
Campaign for direct elections
In the last months of 1983, a campaign began across the country for direct elections for president, the "Diretas Já", which united various political leaders such as Fernando Henrique Cardoso, Lula, Ulysses Guimarães, among others.
The movement that reached its peak in 1984, when the Dante de Oliveira Amendment would be voted, which intended to reestablish direct elections for president.
On April 25, the amendment, despite obtaining a majority of the votes, did not get the 2/3 required for its approval.
Soon after, a large part of the opposition forces decided to participate in indirect elections for president. PMDB launched Tancredo Neves, for president and José Sarney, for vice.
Once the Electoral College met, the majority of the votes went to Tancredo Neves, who defeated Paulo Maluf, the PDS candidate. Thus ended the days of the military dictatorship.
Presidents during the Military Dictatorship in Brazil
| Mandate | 15/04/1964 to 15/03/1967 |
|---|---|
| Internal Policy | Creation of the National Information Service. |
| Economy | Creation of Cruzeiro and the National Housing Bank (BNH) |
| Foreign policy | Disruption of diplomatic relations with Cuba and rapprochement with the US. |
| Mandate | 3/15/1967 to 8/31/1969 |
|---|---|
| Internal Policy | The 1967 Constitution and the promulgation of AI-5 entered into force. Creation of Embraer. |
| Economy | Expansion of credit and heavy industrialization. |
| Foreign policy | Approaching African and Asian countries in international forums. Queen Elizabeth II's visit to Brazil. |
Provisional Governing Board
- Aurélio de Lira Tavares, Minister of the Army;
- Augusto Rademaker, Minister of the Navy;
- Márcio de Souza e Melo, Minister of Aeronautics.
| Mandate | 31/08/1969 to 30 October 1969 |
|---|---|
| Internal Policy | The Governing Board only occupied the presidency as a result of Costa e Silva's death. Thus, they only prepared the election when Medici would be chosen as president. |
| Mandate | 10/30/1969 to 3/15/1974 |
|---|---|
| Internal Policy | Defeated the Guerrilha do Araguaia and created the Information Operation Departments |
| Economy | Creation of Embrapa, and start of construction of large works such as the Itaipu Hydroelectric Power Plant |
| Foreign policy | Agreement with Paraguay and Argentina for the construction of the plant. Visit to the United States. |
| Mandate | 03/15/1974 to 03/15/1979 |
|---|---|
| Internal Policy | Creation of the state of Mato-Grosso do Sul, merger of the state of Guanabara with Rio de Janeiro and end of AI-5. |
| Economy | Increase in external debt and stimulus to foreign capital. |
| Foreign policy | Recognition of Angola's independence, nuclear energy agreements with West Germany and diplomatic relations with China resumed. |
| Mandate | 03/15/1979 to 03/15/1985 |
|---|---|
| Internal Policy | Creation of the state of Rondônia and political reopening with the amnesty law |
| Economy | Modernization of agriculture, increase in inflation and IMF loan. |
| Foreign policy | Visit to the United States. |
read further:
- Brazil Republic
- Years of Lead
- Music and the Military Dictatorship in Brazil
- Condor Operation
- Questions about the Military Dictatorship