The 1964 coup d'état in Brazil occurred amid tensions between the United States and Soviet Union during the Cold War. The Brazilian government under João Goulart pursued policies like land reform that concerned the U.S., as it saw Brazil as within its sphere of influence. Growing political unrest and opposition to Goulart's administration led the military, with U.S. support, to depose Goulart in a coup in 1964 to prevent Brazil from moving closer to the Soviet Union. The coup received U.S. backing to maintain American influence over Brazil.

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MORE THOUGHTS ABOUT THE COUP D´ETAT OF 1964 IN BRAZIL
Fernando Alcoforado *
At the end of World War II in 1945, began the Cold War, a contest for world hegemony
between the United States and the Soviet Union. We started to experience an intense
ideological , economic, diplomatic and technological war for the conquest of areas of
influence, which established the division of the world into two blocks, with divergent
economic, political and ideological systems: the so-called capitalist bloc led by the
United States and the socialist bloc led by the Soviet Union. This dispute directly
influenced the policies of several countries, including Brazil.
The Cold War also coincided with the process of decolonization and national liberation
struggle of countries around the world. The desire for independence from various
European colonies in Asia and Africa and the strengthening of nationalism coincided
with the decline of the European powers. The United Nations Charter itself recognized
the right to self-determination of colonized peoples that had been signed by the
colonizing countries. In 1955, twenty nine newly independent countries met at the
Bandung Conference, the Indonesian capital, establishing its support for the struggle
against colonialism. The Bandung Conference stimulated the struggles for
independence in Africa and Asia.
The decolonization in Africa and Asia was not a homogeneous process occurring
peacefully and also violent. In the case of peaceful means, the independence of the
colony was gradually accomplished by the metropolis, with the granting of political and
administrative autonomy, maintaining economic control of the new country, thereby
creating a new type of dependency, as occurred in India. The independence that
occurred by way of violence resulted from the intransigence of the imperialist countries
to grant autonomy to the colonies. The revolutionary struggles for national liberation
were usually linked to the construction of socialism as occurred, for example, in Cuba
and Vietnam.
After the Second World War , the United States and Soviet Union which have lead the
two large blocks, capitalist and socialist sought on the one hand, the maintenance and
the other, expanding their areas of influence. In this sense, the Soviet Union began to
see in independence movements in Africa and Asia the opportunity to expand its
political influence in the new nations. The Cold War between the United States and the
Soviet Union, the advancement of socialist ideas in the world and national liberation
struggles around the world contributed decisively to directly interfere in Brazilian
politics.
After World War II, Brazil became an ally of the United States, and from that position,
triggered an increase in trade relations between the two countries with increasing
economic dominance of the United States monopolies in the Brazilian economy which
accentuated during Juscelino Kubitchek government. Later, in 1961, with the rise to
power of João Goulart, after the resignation of President Quadros, changes occurred in
Brazilian politics since Goulart began to control foreign capital, encouraged land reform
and extended Brazil relations with socialist countries. This was not well accepted by the
U.S. government because saw these initiatives as a threat to its interests in Brazil .

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Brazil in 1964 was considered capitalist influence area under the leadership of the
United States. It would be unacceptable to the United States and its local allies admit
that Brazil became an independent country and able to be allied with the Soviet Union
as happened with Cuba. In response to the actions of the government of João Goulart,
the U.S. government supported the groups that existed in Brazil contrary to policies
carried along by the Brazilian government. The U.S. offensive has produced a growing
political crisis in the country that added to the fact that much of the Brazilian population
was not satisfied with Goulart government. In turn, the government of João Goulart
allied to current national and reformist ideas that sought national liberation from the
yoke of especially U.S. imperialism.
Correlation forces between supporters Goulart government and forces opposed him was
widely favorable to opposition forces. The Church, the media, landowners, industrialists
weighted sectors and most of the middle class were standing overwhelmingly opposed
to Goulart. This opposition was political and ideological because they saw the Goulart
government the possibility of introducing communism in Brazil and also reflected the
dissatisfaction of the majority of the population with the inability of governments to
combat hyperinflation that consumed their salaries and combat unemployment by
removing the country economic stagnation that existed.
The military area was divided into three streams: the first consisted of those aligned
with the U.S. and were enemies of communism; the second , although anticommunist ,
had a nationalist character because they did not accept the subordination of Brazil to
U.S. imperialism; and the third, also anticommunist, was in favor of the defense of
legality. The first stream started to count on the support of the third when movement of
soldiers, sailors and sergeants put into question the principle of respect for hierarchy
and discipline in the armed forces has been instrumental in triggering the coup d´etat in
Brazil in 1964.
In turn, the government of João Goulart was supported by parties (PTB- Work Party,
PSB- Socialist Party and PCB- Brazilian Comunist Party, among others) and other
political forces in civil society (trade unions, peasant leagues and student organizations,
among others) interested in the fight against landlordism and subordination of Brazil to
international capital. The Goulart administration and its allies were advocates of
structural reform to contribute, within capitalism, to overcome economic and social
barriers to the development of Brazil.
The João Goulart government was also opposed by the Left parties supporters of the
socialist revolution , as the PC do B- Comunist Party of Brazil , Popular Action , Polop ,
etc. ) that it was considered quite conciliatory. The facts of history show that neither
Goulart government nor the existing revolutionary parties in Brazil were prepared to
neutralize the coup d´etat. The lack of resistance to the coup is a clear demonstration
that the revolutionary left parties were not prepared to also make social revolution in
Brazil.
It is proven with documents of the United States government that the coup d´etat in
Brazil in 1964 had their support because North American government wanted to avoid
that Brazil was freed of its area of influence and became an ally of the Soviet Union and
Cuba. It is also proven that at the time of the military coup d´etat, the U.S. government
sent a naval squadron to the Brazilian coast that could be used if there was any
resistance . This meant to say that Brazil could be invaded if the coup was unsuccessful.

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*
Alcoforado, Fernando, engineer and doctor of Territorial Planning and Regional Development from the
University of Barcelona, a university professor and consultant in strategic planning, business planning,
regional planning and planning of energy systems, is the author of 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. Muller Aktiengesellschaft & Co. KG,
Saarbrücken, Germany, 2010), Aquecimento Global e Catástrofe Planetária (P&A Gráfica e Editora,
Salvador, 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) and Os Fatores Condicionantes do
Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2012), among others.