This article presents the factors that contributed to Brazil's failure to achieve high levels of political, economic and social development throughout its history.

1. 1
BRAZIL'S FAILURE TO BUILD ITS POLITICAL, ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL
PROGRESS THROUGHOUT HISTORY
Fernando Alcoforado*
This article presents the factors that contributed to Brazil's failure to achieve high levels
of political, economic and social development throughout its history. This failure
occurred in the colonial period (1500 to 1821) and during the Empire (1822 to 1889) and
the Republic (after 1889) compromising its political, economic and social development.
The latifundium implanted during the colonial period still remains in Brazil. The country's
industrialization effort was committed to the internationalization of the Brazilian
economy in 1955 and the adoption of neoliberalism in 1990. Brazil, which was dependent
on Portugal, became dependent on England and, later, on the United States, the
international financial system and foreign capital. The Brazilian economy made rapid
growth in denationalization with the increasing penetration of foreign capital and the
social problems of the Brazilian nation were aggravated in the contemporary era.
Brazil in the colonial period (1500 to 1821)
From 1500 to 1821, in the colonial period, Brazil centered its economic activity on the
production of primary products for export. It was this process that consolidated in Brazil
the latifundium, that is, the large rural property, the export monoculture, slavery, the
country's dependent link with the outside and its regrettable consequences. In Brazil, the
exploitation colony of Portugal prospered instead of the settlement colony like that which
occurred in the United States, characterized by the existence of small and medium-sized
properties dedicated to self-consumption and / or the domestic market. It can be said that
the establishment of an exploration colony instead of a settlement colony was one of the
factors that contributed to Brazil's economic backwardness throughout its history. In order
to keep Brazil economically and culturally backward, during the colonial period, Portugal
avoided setting up universities in the country that only occurred late in the 18th century,
in addition to opening the ports in 1808 that favored Britain's interests by deepening its
dependence in relation to the outside.
Brazil during the Empire (1822-1889)
The Independence of Brazil in 1822 was a false independence because it remained
subordinate to Portugal, in addition to being an "independence without revolution"
because there were no changes in the nation's economic base. The State that was born
from the Independence of Brazil maintains the execrable latifundium and intensifies the
no less execrable slavery, making it the support of the restoration it carries out regarding
the economic structures inherited from the Colony. In addition, Brazil paid a heavy
indemnity to Portuguese coffers for the fact that Portugal granted Brazil's independence.
The Independence of Brazil differed from the experience of other countries in the
Americas because it did not present the characteristics of a typical national-liberating
revolutionary process. Revolutionary nativism, under the influence of the ideals of
liberalism and the great revolutions of the late eighteenth century, gave way in Brazil to
the logic of change, preserving the privileges that still prevail today. The main deplorable
fact of the Independence of Brazil is that it did not result from the struggle of the Brazilian
people, but from the will of Emperor D. Pedro I. Unfortunately, the Independence of

2. 2
Brazil did not lead to the abolition of slavery that would benefit the main social segment
that inhabited the country, the enslaved Africans.
D. Pedro I authorized huge expenses with the Cisplatina War that took place from 1825
to 1828, between Brazil and Argentina, for the possession of the Province of Cisplatina,
today Uruguay. The money spent in the fighting has greatly imbalanced the Brazilian
economy, which is already debilitated with the payment to Portugal for the recognition
of Brazil's independence. The unfavorable outcome for Brazil with the Cisplatin War that
wished Uruguay to remain integrated into the Brazilian Empire worsened the political
crisis in the country and was one more reason for Brazilians' dissatisfaction with Emperor
D. Pedro I who abdicated the throne on April 7, 1831 after the murder of the journalist
Libero Badaró, a great critic of the Empire of Brazil, which made the Emperor's political
support precarious. The departure of D. Pedro I from the imperial government represented
a new phase for Brazilian political history. Not being old enough to assume the throne,
his son, D. Pedro II, should have waited for his majority to become emperor. To solve
this problem, to govern Brazil, a Provisional Regency was elected and, subsequently, a
Permanent Regency. A troubled period began, in which the country's territorial unity and
central authority were questioned and put to the test by riots, revolts and rebellions
throughout Brazil. In the year 1840, at the age of fifteen, Dom Pedro II was crowned
Emperor of Brazil. From that moment on, he would become the most important political
figure in the country for practically five decades.
During the Empire, Brazil was involved in war against Paraguay, which was the largest
international armed conflict between the years 1864 and 1870 in South America. Brazil,
Argentina and Uruguay signed a military agreement called the Triple Alliance that
defeated Paraguay and decimated half of its population. With regard to Brazil, the war
cost thousands of lives (60,000) and affected the economy, requiring several loans from
England to maintain the country's financial balance. England did not participate directly
in the war, but it was the only country to profit from it, because it expanded its markets
and Brazil increased its debt to the United Kingdom. Reaching its peak between 1850 and
1870, the imperial regime subsequently declined with the development of various events
such as the end of the slave trade and slavery and strife with the military and religious
that shook the monarchy. The first blunt blow against D. Pedro II took place in 1888,
when Princess Isabel authorized the release of all slaves by British imposition. From then
on, the government lost the support of the large landowners, the last pillar that supported
the existence of imperial power. In the following year, the worsens of relations between
the Army and the Empire was enough for a military coup to overthrow the Monarchy and
proclaim the Republic in Brazil.
Brazil during the Old Republic (1889-1929)
The main deplorable fact of the Proclamation of the Republic is that it did not result from
the struggle of the Brazilian people, but from a coup d'état sponsored by the Army with
the support of the economic oligarchies that dominated Brazil. The Proclamation of the
Republic repeated what happened with the Independence of Brazil, which did not result
from the struggle of the Brazilian people, but from the will of Emperor D. Pedro I. The
Republic born of the coup d'etat maintains the agrarian-economic model exporter who
privileges the interests of oligarchies since 1500 with the execrable latifundium inherited
from the colonial period. Deplorable, too, was the country's subordination to England
since 1810.

3. 3
The Old Republic, or First Republic, is the name given to the period between the
Proclamation of the Republic in 1889 and its end with the outbreak of the 1930
Revolution. The Old Republic had two moments: the Republic of the Sword and the
Republic Oligarchic. The Republic of the Sword covers the governments of marshals
Deodoro da Fonseca and Floriano Peixoto. It was during the Republic of the Sword that
the Constitution was granted that would guide institutional actions during the Old
Republic. This period was marked by economic crises, such as Encilhamento, and
conflicts such as the Federalist Revolution and the Armada Revolt. The Oligarchic
Republic was marked by the political control exercised over the federal government by
the São Paulo coffee oligarchy and by the rural elite of Minas Gerais, in the well-known
“coffee with milk policy”. It was during this period that coronelismo developed more
strongly, guaranteeing regional political power to the various local elites of the country.
During this period, there were several social conflicts such as the Canudos War, the
Vaccine Revolt, the Chibata Revolt, the Contestado War, Tenentismo, Coluna Prestes and
Cangaço. This period also marks the rise and fall of the economic power of farmers in
São Paulo based on the production of coffee for export. In the Old Republic, the country's
subordination to England, which occurred since the Empire from 1810, was also
maintained.
The agrarian-export economic model, which was adopted from the colonial period from
1500 to 1930, had as main stakeholders in its maintenance the class of landowners and
agro-export sectors. The world economic crisis that profoundly affected coffee
production in 1929 was one of the factors that led to the fall of the Old Republic, which
was harmful to Brazil because it maintained the agrarian-export model that was structured
based on the latifundium since 1500. Deplorable, too, it was the exercise of power in a
pseudo-democratic manner by the oligarchies that dominated Brazil that contributed to
the outbreak of the political crisis resulting from the fraudulent election of the successor
of then President Washington Luís, which was another factor that resulted in the so-called
Revolution of 30 and the rise to power of Getulio Vargas.
Brazil during the Vargas Era (1930 to 1945)
When Getúlio Vargas came to power, the period of industrialization in Brazil began. The
national developmentalist economic model adopted by the Vargas government promoted
the development of Brazil with an import substitution policy based, fundamentally, on
government investments, especially in infrastructure, investments by state companies and
investments by national private capital. Vargas based his administration on the precepts
of populism, nationalism and labor. Economic policy started to value the internal market
that favored industrial growth and, consequently, the urbanization process. The
modernization of Brazil initiated by the Vargas government did not, however, lead to
changes in the agrarian structure that continued to be dominated by the latifundium. The
Vargas Era therefore marks the change in the direction of the Republic, with the country's
political power being shared between large landowners and industrial entrepreneurs.
Getúlio Vargas, who governed Brazil from 1930 to 1945, instituted the dictatorship of the
Estado Novo in 1937 after the outbreak of the revolutionary movement promoted by the
communists in 1935 which was crushed by the federal government. With the end of World
War II in 1945 became clear, the rejection of the government of Getúlio Vargas grew,
which was forced by pressure from democratic political forces to grant amnesty to

4. 4
political prisoners, to allow freedom of party organization, to convene a new National
Constituent Assembly and schedule new elections. On October 29, 1945, under pressure
from the United States government, military invaded the government headquarters,
Palácio do Catete, in Rio de Janeiro, and forced the resignation of President Vargas. Thus,
the fall of the Estado Novo was consolidated. Vargas's deposition occurred not only
because the dictatorship of the Estado Novo was incompatible with the new times of
democratization in the world after the Second World War, but also to tie Brazil to the
interests of the United States that happened under the government of general Eurico
Gaspar Dutra.
Brazil during the Democratic Republic (1946-1964)
After the deposition of Getúlio Vargas, General Eurico Dutra was the first president
elected by direct vote. Internally, the first major action was the convocation of the
National Constituent Assembly that drafted the laws to be integrated into a new
Constitution. Officialized in 1946, the new Brazilian Constitution determined the
autonomy between the three branches of government and the holding of direct elections
for state, municipal and federal executive and legislative positions. In the economy, the
country's foreign exchange reserves have been decreasing, the national industry has
decelerated and the foreign debt has grown again, making the country increasingly
vulnerable economically. President Dutra who ruled Brazil from 1946 to 1950
experienced the tensions and problems that marked the development of the Cold War on
the international political scene after the Second World War. The Dutra government did
not continue the nationalist project of Getúlio Vargas and made Brazil subordinate to the
United States with the alliance it made with the American government, a fact that had
repercussions on authoritarian political actions at the domestic level. By imposition of the
United States, the Communist Party, after receiving a significant amount of votes in the
1946 elections, was made illegal and all civil servants belonging to the same party were
exonerated from their positions. Shortly thereafter, the government of Brazil announced
the end of its diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union.
Getúlio Vargas returned to governing Brazil from 1951 to 1954 when a much more
ambitious and complete planning effort was carried out than in the previous period with
the adoption of a national developmentalist economic policy. On that occasion, there was
one of the most complete surveys on the Brazilian economy, in addition to proposing a
series of infrastructure projects with their execution programs, including projects for the
modernization of railways, ports, coastal shipping, electricity generation, etc. Measures
were taken to overcome regional income disparities, especially to better integrate the
Northeast with the rest of the national economy and to achieve monetary stability.
BNDES and Petrobras were also created. Accused of trying to assassinate Carlos Lacerda
and of the death of Major Rubens Vaz, President Vargas committed suicide for not
accepting his overthrown by the military in 1954, and his attitude also represented the
final act of the first of a Brazilian ruler who guided his action in defense of the country's
economic and social progress and national sovereignty. Despite the economic successes
in promoting the industrialization of Brazil and in creating government institutions to
promote economic and social development and of the social advances resulting from new
legislation, the Vargas Era, from 1930 to 1945 and from 1951 to 1954, had as a deplorable
fact the represented for the state of exception that was implemented from 1937 to 1945
in which the Vargas government imprisoned in its prisons and murdered many of its
opponents.

5. 5
Juscelino Kubitschek ruled Brazil from 1955 to 1960. Brazilian industrialization takes a
new direction. Until then, during the Vargas administration, the industrialization process
had advanced under the leadership of the Brazilian company. After the Juscelino
Kubitscheck government, foreign capital will gradually take over the most dynamic
branches of the Brazilian economy. The expansion of the Brazilian economy was made
with the growing participation of oligopolized foreign capital that made its investments
aiming at the complete conquest of the national market. After the Kubitschek government,
the denationalization of the national economy with foreign capital was deepened, taking
charge of the industrialization process in Brazil and the national industry being left to its
own devices as it suffered competition from external groups attracted by official
incentives and advantages. Jânio Quadros replaces Juscelino Kubitscheck in 1961 and
resigned after governing Brazil for 7 months.
Vice-President João Goulart assumed the Presidency of the Republic on September 3,
1961 under parliamentary regime under the direction of Tancredo Neves, which was the
political solution found in the face of Leonel Brizola's struggle to defend the legality to
secure the inauguration of João Goulart and opposition of the Armed Forces to his
inauguration. After putting an end to parliamentarism through a plebiscite, João Goulart
sought to implement the basic reforms to overcome the great structural problems
experienced by Brazil and to face the economic, political and social crisis that existed in
the early years of the 1960s. Basic reforms initiatives were taken that aimed at banking,
fiscal, urban, administrative, agrarian and university reforms. It also included offering the
right to vote to the illiterate and to the subordinate ranks of the Armed Forces. The
measures also sought greater participation by the Brazilian State in economic matters,
regulating foreign investment in Brazil. Among the changes intended by the basic reforms
was, in the first place, land reform. The aim was to enable thousands of rural workers to
have access to land in the hands of the latifundium. The profit remittance law sought to
reduce the very high profit rate that large foreign companies sent from Brazil to their
headquarters. Basic reforms aimed at economic and social progress and the defense of
national interests. The João Goulart government was the last in the history of Brazil that
sought to promote economic and social progress and the defense of national interests.
The João Goulart government's push for the implementation of basic reforms began on
March 13, 1964 through a large rally at Central do Brasil in Rio de Janeiro. At this rally,
President João Goulart announced the signing of the decree that nationalized private oil
refineries and the decree that expropriated unproductive land located on the side of roads
and railroads. As the proposals had a nationalist nature and were influenced by the thought
of the left, the defenders of capitalism, of the latifundium and members of the Brazilian
right feared about the growth of a possible communist government in the country. The
rally in Central do Brasil was the decisive moment to determine the organization of the
military to start the coup d'état that was launched on March 31, 1964, establishing a
military dictatorship in the country to abort the economic and social changes sponsored
by the João Goulart government. The Armed Forces acted to overthrow the Goulart
government influenced by the ideological polarization experienced by Brazilian society
at that political juncture and, also, due to the breakdown of hierarchy and discipline with
the upheaval of subordinate sectors that was the main factor that caused the legalistic
military to stop support of the government of João Goulart, facilitating the coup
movement.

6. 6
Brazil during the military dictatorship (1964 to 1985)
With the deposition of João Goulart, institutional acts were promulgated during the
governments of generals Castello Branco (1964-1967) and Artur da Costa e Silva (1967-
1969) that ended the rule of law and democratic institutions in the country. In order to
contain the manifestations of opposition, General Costa e Silva enacted, in December
1968, Institutional Act No. 5 that suspended the activities of Congress and authorized the
persecution of opponents. From 1968 to 1973, Brazil experienced high rates of economic
growth, generating a climate of optimism soon called “the economic miracle” and
industry was the main sector in the development boom that began in 1968. During the
military dictatorship, there was an implementation of three PNDs - National Development
Plan in the Garrastazu Médici, Ernesto Geisel and João Figueiredo governments. It was,
mainly, under the Ernesto Geisel government, with the II PND, that the objectives were
defined to complete the Brazilian industrial structure, to substitute imports of basic inputs
and capital goods, to overcome the exchange problems resulting from the oil crisis, to
develop coal projects, non-ferrous, sugarcane alcohol, electricity and oil implanted in the
1970s in various parts of the country and contribute to the deconcentration of productive
activity in Brazil. The model of dependent capitalist development from the Juscelino
Kubitschek government in 1955 was maintained until 1985 by the military rulers who
took power with the 1964 coup.
The recession and the rise in unemployment in the early and late 1980s took on an
unknown dimension. The characteristic of the Brazilian economy that is most evident is
that the sharp drop in the pace of growth indicated the exhaustion of a pattern that gave it
impressive dynamism throughout the period of modern industrialization, particularly after
the mid-1950s. With the faltering economy, the return of some exiles who were in charge
of reporting the barbarities witnessed or experienced in the basements of the dictatorship,
and the pro-amnesty campaign taking to the streets, Brazilian society was winning the
struggle for democracy. The spaces of struggle for the end of the military's presence in
the central power were multiplying. In the last months of 1983, a campaign for direct
elections for president, the "Diretas Já", which brought together various political leaders,
began across the country. The movement peaked in 1984, when the Dante de Oliveira
Amendment was voted, which intended to reestablish direct elections for president. On
April 25, the amendment, despite obtaining a majority of the votes, failed to obtain the
2/3 necessary for its approval. Soon after the April 25 defeat, a large part of the opposition
forces decided to participate in the indirect elections for president. PMDB launched
Tancredo Neves for president and José Sarney for vice president. Having gathered the
Electoral College, the majority of the votes went to Tancredo Neves, who defeated Paulo
Maluf of the PDS, candidate of the military dictatorship. In this way the military
dictatorship ended. Tancredo Neves passed away before taking office, a fact that made
Vice President José Sarney to occupy the Presidency of the Republic.
It is worth noting that from 1980 to 1989, during the João Figueiredo and José Sarney
governments, there was a profound deterioration in the economic and social situation in
Brazil. In the 1980s, Brazil presented a deficit in the balance of payments that worsened
with the second “oil shock” and the sharp rise in interest rates in the international market.
The development model based on the import substitution process and dependent on
technology and foreign capital, which peaked in the 1970s, was exhausted in the early
1980s. The 1980s and 1990s marked the longest and most serious crisis of Brazil in its

7. 7
history only surpassed by the current economic crisis that broke out in 2014, which was
aggravated by the pandemic of the new Coronavirus. With the end of the military
dictatorship, there was a need to draft a new Constitution. The National Constituent
Assembly began to meet in February 1987 and only ended its activities in September
1988. In addition to federal deputies and senators, there was also the presence of
“notables”, that is, specialists in various matters that related to the citizenship, education,
jurisprudence, that is, all matters related to the legal building of a Federal Constitution.
The new Constitution was enacted on October 5, 1988 and remains today as a
fundamental law of Brazil, that is, it is the basis for the entire Brazilian legal system.
Brazil during the new Republic (from 1988)
Fernando Collor de Mello was the first president of Brazil elected directly by popular
vote after the end of the Military Regime in 1985 and the promulgation of the 1988
Constitution. His government had to face a severe financial crisis, which required drastic
measures. The exits offered by his team of economists, such as the Collor I and Collor II
plans, proved disastrous, provoking a strong popular rejection. As if that were not enough,
the treasurer of Collor's presidential campaign, Paulo César (PC) Farias, was accused of
being involved in a corruption scandal. This suspicion ended up involving the president
in the scandal, a fact that cost not only his office, but also his political rights.
Adopting, in a subordinate manner, the neoliberal adjustment strategy formulated by the
Washington Consensus, the Itamar Franco government, which replaced Fernando Collor,
and the Fernando Henrique Cardoso government (FHC), which replaced the Itamar
Franco government, began to fulfill its three described steps below: 1) stabilization of the
economy (combating inflation); 2) carrying out structural reforms (privatizations,
deregulation of markets, financial and commercial liberalization), and 3) resumption of
foreign investments to leverage development. The Itamar Franco and FHC governments
processed the fight against inflation with the Real Plan, privatized state companies and
opened the national economy even more to international capital. The Lula government
maintained the same policy as its predecessor FHC, with the exception of the privatization
policy. The Dilma Rousseff government continued the FHC and Lula governments that
preceded it, resuming the privatization policy that had the name of public-private
partnership.
The neoliberal economic model adopted in Brazil resulted in the economic recession that
started in 2014, the general bankruptcy of companies, the mass unemployment that
reached 13 million workers, the underutilization of 27 million workers, the
deindustrialization of the country and the increase in the denationalization of what
remains of public assets in Brazil and, consequently, in greater subordination of the
country in relation to the outside world. The recessive economic crisis associated with
systemic corruption that was present in several federal government agencies made Dilma
Rousseff, who was president of the Federative Republic of Brazil from January 2011 to
August 2016 (reelected in the 2014 elections), suffer rejection of the economically
dominant classes, of a large part of the population and of the majority of the National
Congress and suffered an impeachment process that took place with a parliamentary coup
that resulted in his removal from office.
The Michel Temer government, which replaced that of Dilma Rousseff, further
aggravated the economic and social situation in Brazil by adopting measures that

8. 8
deepened the recession and made the resumption of Brazil's development unfeasible. The
results are there: negative economic growth, external imbalances, deindustrialization of
the country, productivity stagnation, generalized bankruptcy of companies, mass
unemployment, high internal debt, fiscal crisis of the federal, state and municipal
governments and, now also a setback in the field of social achievements with the adoption
of labor reform. With the Jair Bolsonaro government starting in 2019, Brazil's future is
even more threatened because it is radicalizing even more in the adoption of the neoliberal
model whose consequences will be dire for social rights, the environment and Brazil's
independence from the great powers and international capital. At the time when we live
with the Jair Bolsonaro government, there is no space to advance democracy, social
rights, environmental protection and national independence. On the contrary, there is an
attempt to eliminate democracy and social and environmental rights and the
deconstruction and denial of the gains already achieved by the subordinate classes and by
the Brazilian nation to achieve their emancipation.
Conclusions
From the above, it is evident that the problems faced by Brazil at the moment and
unresolved result from factors that have been added up and accumulated throughout its
520-year history, that is, in the colonial period and during the Empire and the Republic.
The failure of Brazil to build political, economic and social progress throughout its history
has caused the country to face the current problems that have been created and persist
since the colonial period, whose attempts to overcome them were aborted by the
repression against social movements, for the overthrow of governments committed to the
country's economic and social progress and the defense of national interests, as well as
the adoption of anti-national and anti-social government policies. Brazil will only achieve
effective economic and social progress when it carries out an agrarian reform that
removes the secular latifundium existing in the country, when it implements the State of
Social Welfare that ensures the full attendance of the basic needs of the population in
terms of employment, education, health, transport, housing, basic sanitation and leisure,
when to eliminate the divorce between the State and Civil Society, ensuring the people's
democratic participation in government decisions at all levels through plebiscite and
referendums and when the government prioritizes the interests of the great majority of
the population and guarantee national sovereignty.
* Fernando Alcoforado, 80, awarded the medal of Engineering Merit of the CONFEA / CREA System,
member of the Bahia Academy of Education, engineer and doctor in Territorial Planning and Regional
Development by the University of Barcelona, university professor and consultant in the areas of
strategic planning, business planning, regional planning and planning of energy systems, is author of the
books Globalização (Editora Nobel, São Paulo, 1997), De Collor a FHC- O Brasil e a Nova (Des)ordem
Mundial (Editora Nobel, São Paulo, 1998), Um Projeto para o Brasil (Editora Nobel, São Paulo, 2000), Os
condicionantes do desenvolvimento do Estado da Bahia (Tese de doutorado. Universidade de
Barcelona,http://www.tesisenred.net/handle/10803/1944, 2003), Globalização e Desenvolvimento (Editora
Nobel, São Paulo, 2006), Bahia- Desenvolvimento do Século XVI ao Século XX e Objetivos Estratégicos
na Era Contemporânea (EGBA, Salvador, 2008), The Necessary Conditions of the Economic and Social
Development- The Case of the State of Bahia (VDM Verlag Dr. Müller Aktiengesellschaft & Co. KG,
Saarbrücken, Germany, 2010), Aquecimento Global e Catástrofe Planetária (Viena- Editora e Gráfica,
Santa Cruz do Rio Pardo, São Paulo, 2010), Amazônia Sustentável- Para o progresso do Brasil e combate
ao aquecimento global (Viena- Editora e Gráfica, Santa Cruz do Rio Pardo, São Paulo, 2011), Os Fatores
Condicionantes do Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2012), Energia no
Mundo e no Brasil- Energia e Mudança Climática Catastrófica no Século XXI (Editora CRV, Curitiba,
2015), As Grandes Revoluções Científicas, Econômicas e Sociais que Mudaram o Mundo (Editora CRV,
Curitiba, 2016), A Invenção de um novo Brasil (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2017), Esquerda x Direita e a sua

9. 9
convergência (Associação Baiana de Imprensa, Salvador, 2018, em co-autoria) and Como inventar o futuro
para mudar o mundo (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2019).