The government of João Goulart , also known as Jango , lasted from 1961 to 1964 and was marked by great political tension. The obstacles encountered by João Goulart arose before assuming the presidency and remained, above all, when he tried to implement in Brazil the well-known Basic Reforms . His government came to an early end with the Civil-Military Coup between March 31 and April 2, 1964. This text, however, focuses on the events of Jango's government from September 1961 to August 1963.
Possession of João Goulart
On August 25, 1961, Jânio Quadros resigned the presidency of Brazil after a troubled government full of disastrous decisions that led to Jânio's weariness, above all, in his relationship with congressmen. According to the 1946 Constitution, the successor to the post of president would be the vice-elect, João Goulart, of the PTB.
Jango's inauguration was extremely troubled by the opposition offered by the army. Members of the Brazilian Armed Forces refused to accept João Goulart's inauguration, stating that if he did, he would be arrested. This started a serious political crisis in Brazil, when groups representing the PTB started a legalist campaign for the possession of João Goulart.
This legalistic campaign was spearheaded by Leonel Brizola , a Labor radical from the PTB who was governor of Rio Grande do Sul. Brizola mobilized soldiers who were in favor of taking Jango and called on citizens to volunteer in the formation of an armed civilian corps. There was also distribution of weapons to the population, and the country was close to starting a civil war.
The solution found was proposed by the congressmen:adoption of parliamentarism . The idea was to allow Jango to take office, however, in a parliamentary system, he would have his power of government reduced to the detriment of the prime minister. The departure did not please the loyalists very much, but it was adopted and, on September 7, 1961, João Goulart took over as president of Brazil.
Jango Government
Parliamentarism was in force in Brazil for 14 months and was only abandoned after the popular consultation decided on the return of presidentialism in January 1963. During the period of parliamentarism, João Goulart had no many possibilities to carry out reforms and propose projects for Brazil due to the limitations imposed by the regime.
In addition, the parliamentary experience in Brazil was marked by instability and, in a period of 14 months, Brazil had three ministerial cabinets distinct. The prime ministers of that period were:
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Tancredo Snows (Sep-1961 to Jun-1962)
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Broache da Rock (Jun-1962 to Sep-1962)
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Hermes de Lima (Sep-1962 to Jan-1963)
After assuming the presidency of Brazil, Jango found a country full of problems and with social tensions about to erupt. The big immediate problem was the payment of 1.5 billion of the external debt as early as 1962. This was a serious problem because the government did not have the money to pay these debts, and the US government refused to ease the terms of payment.
Also, inflation high was a problem and there were great tensions in the countryside due to the failure to carry out an agrarian reform in Brazil, the low amount of food produced and also in the educational environment, especially due to the low number of places available in Brazilian universities, which did not meet the needs from the local market and did not house all the students.
At that moment, the United States turned its eyes to Brazil, fearful of the Goulart government. First, for the US government, Jango was a politician who was “too far left” of the political spectrum. This bothered, above all, due to the context of the Cold War, which had created a bipolarization in the world between a capitalist and a socialist bloc.
Secondly, some measures taken by the Jango government were considered unacceptable by the Washington (US) government. These measures were the Profit Remittance Act 1962, which prevented multinationals from sending more than 10% of the profits made outside Brazil, and the continuation of a project of independent foreign policy from the action of San Tiago Dantas.
End of Parliamentarism
The parliamentary experience, as mentioned, was short in Brazil. In a plebiscite held in January 1963, the population opted for the end of this regime. Thus, João Goulart assumed power with full powers and began his political project with the implementation of two important measures:the Plan Triennale and the Reforms from Base .
In 1962, the government launched the Triennial Plan, which had been created by the Minister of Planning, Celso Furtado . The Triennial Plan aimed to promote the country's economic growth while creating conditions to combat high inflation. The Triennial Plan is seen by historians as an austerity economic policy plan, as it stipulated spending controls and a wage freeze.
The Triennial Plan, however, was a failure and, by mid-1963, the government had already done what it suggested not to be done:it promoted an increase in the salary of civil servants. . The failure of the Triennial Plan was closely related to its lack of acceptance in Brazilian political circles, whether among rightists or leftists.
The second important project stipulated by the Jango government was the Basic Reforms, that is, a project that created conditions or, at least, initiated a debate for carrying out structural reforms in the Brazil that would result in profound long-term transformations.
Within the Basic Reforms, there were projects that stipulated the realization of:
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Reform Agrarian :defended the expropriation of rural properties larger than 500 hectares that were not used;
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Reform Tax :sought to create conditions to integrate taxes and defended the idea of fiscal progressivity, in which those with more income would pay more taxes and those with less income would pay less taxes;
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Reform Electoral :defended the expansion of the right to vote for the illiterate;
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Reform Banking :aimed at expanding the conditions for providing bank credit;
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Reform Urban :sought to prevent speculation in the value of urban properties and create conditions for the development of affordable housing;
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Reform Educational :sought to create conditions that would increase the number of places available in Brazilian universities.
Among all these reforms, the one that was widely discussed and that occupied the political debate in Brazil between March and August 1963 was the agrarian reform . The other reforms can be seen as establishing a project of government intent to start a debate. In the case of agrarian reform, popular support for this debate was immediate.
The agrarian reform debate stipulated that properties over 500 hectares that were not being used would be expropriated by the government through payment of compensation to the owner. From this, the distribution of these lands to peasants who did not own land would be carried out. The government project received strong support from the left, especially from the Peasant Leagues .
However, the debate on agrarian reform not only did not evolve but was fundamental to the erosion of João Goulart with his base in Congress. The main obstacle had been a constitutional clause that determined that the payment of compensation should be made in cash and based on market value.
The implementation of agrarian reform under these conditions would be impossible for the government, which proposed an alternative:a constitutional amendment that would allow compensation to be made through the redemption of public debt bonds with a term of up to 20 years and adjusted for inflation. This government proposal was rejected by the landowners, who demanded that the correction should be made based on the appreciation of the value of the land in the market.
This divergence between the proposal defended by the government and the proposal defended by the large landowners, once the debate was turned into a business by the landowners, made the discussion definitively stuck as of August 1963. From then on, there was a considerable loss of government support with PSD parliamentarians, who migrated to the opposition base, represented by the UDN.
This loss of support, added to the economic crisis and the social upheaval caused by both leftist and conservative groups, intensified the political crisis and paved the way for big business allied with the military and the US government began preparations for the Civil-Military Coup of 1964.
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