O Império Eterno

[Insula Dei]

Yes, this demands an update!

[Hash]

Sim, nós podemos: 1956-1959

Kubitschek took office as economic growth was picking up after lagging behind in 1954-1955 and as the political situation was stabilizing itself after the chaos and radicalism which marked the two previous years. An able politician, with little loyalty to any one of the PTB's plethora of factions, he was able to build a broad government which appealed to even the most conservative sectors of the military.

Although João Goulart became Deputy Prime Minister, he lost the control over the Labour Ministry which he had held under Vargas. JK's former leadership rival, Ernâni do Amaral Peixoto was made Minister of National Development and Internal Affairs, a new department which became one of the top departments in cabinet alongside Finance and War. José Maria Alkmin became Finance Minister, while Henrique Lott retained the War Ministry. José Parsifal Barroso, a more conservative figure of the PTB, won the Labour Ministry.

Taking office in early September 1956, Kubitschek announced in his first speech to Parliament his ambitious Goals Plan. Stemming from a developmentalist thesis, and from the conclusions of the 1950 American-Brazilian commission on Brazil's economy; the Goals Plan sought to boost domestic economic growth through investments (state, private and foreign). Key areas targeted included petroleum, steel, energy and transportation. Parliament approved the basic points of the Goals Plan early on, in October 1956.

However, the most notable part of the Goals Plan was the bid to build a new Imperial capital for the country. The idea for a new capital located inland first came up as early as 1761, while Brazil's father of independence, José Bonifácio, had popularized the idea for such a capital in 1823. In October 1956, Kubitschek re-affirmed his wish to build a new capital inland and in November 1956 Parliament, slightly dumbfounded, approved the idea and the creation of the Imperial Capital Commission (CCI) under the authority of the Ministry of National Development. The new city, to be named Brasilia (as Bonifácio had proposed back in 1823), would be located in the Planalto Central near the border between Goiás and Minas Gerais. Work on the new capital, which quickly became Kubitschek's pet project, began early in 1957. The Emperor, Dom Pedro IV, also took a personal interest in the project and provided some of the funding.

Driven by the thesis of import-substitution, the Goals Plan invested significantly in the automobile industry. The government funded significant projects to build automobile manufacturing plants in the country, notably in Minas Gerais. The goal was to make Brazil self-sufficient on locally-built cars. Accompanying this transportation policy, the government prioritized road construction like no government had done before. The goal was firstly to interconnect the various cities lining the coastal areas where most of the country's population remained concentrated, and secondly to settle the regions of central and northern Brazil. The Conservatives criticized the government for prioritizing roads and motor vehicle transportation to the detriment of railways which, they believed, could better serve the nation. The Goals Plan also increased funding for Petrobrás, among other sectors, with the aim to double production.

The investments of the Goals Plan doubled Brazil's traditionally weak economic growth, with growth in 1958 reaching 8%. Industrial growth grew by nearly 80%, and industrial profits grew by 75% though wages grew by only 20%. The Goals Plan, with its associated economic growth, proved popular with large sectors of society. The military liked the idea of "order and development", and the idea of national development appealed to most military factions. Furthermore, helped by the popular Lott, the government paid much more attention to military demands than Vargas had done. Kubitschek was liberal in his dealings with the military, dispensing funding and promotions easily. Furthermore, he moved to pardon most of the military plotters of November 1955. Most Conservatives maintained calm and respectful relations with Kubitschek, although Carlos Lacerda remained a virulent opponent of the government and continued his anti-corruption crusade which he had started with Vargas. To muzzle Lacerda and his acolytes, the government passed a controversial press law in 1957 which in effect restricted Lacerda's access to radio and television. The law worked both ways, as the government also sought to muzzle the Communist Party and isolate it into irrelevance. Lacerda cried wolf, but fewer people were receptive to him in 1957 than in 1954-1955. To further boost the national mood, Brazil won the 1958 FIFA World Cup in Sweden, its second title.

Kubitschek's term was marked, on the world stage, by the escalation of the Cold War, decolonization and the 1956 Suez Crisis. Kubitschek remained closely aligned with the United States, and Brazil paid little attention to the movements of decolonization in Africa and Asia. Kubitschek sought to promote a policy of multilateralism and two-way dialogue between Washington and Latin America, launching his Pan-American Operation (OPA) which sought to increase American involvement in Latin Americas through the undertaking of policies to combat underdevelopment and poverty as a method to combat communism in the continent. Washington received the OPA coldly, despite the embarrassing failure which was Vice President Nixon's 1957 tour of the continent.

By late 1958, the mood turned increasingly sour as Lacerda's sensational corruption revelations garnered increasing interest and as economists reported rapidly rising inflation and a rising foreign and domestic debt. Indeed, stabilizing the economy had never been a priority for the government which paid for the Goals Plan through simply printing out more money. The amount of money in circulation in Brazil doubled between 1954 and 1958, and inflation reached an all-time high of roughly 45% in 1958. Finance Minister José Maria Alkmin opposed the uniform exchange rate policy proposed by Aranha in 1954 and supported by the Conservatives. In fact, he sought to extend the government subsidies for strategic products to shipbuilding and automobiles. Credit was expanded despite some attempts to limit it early on. Alkmin also supported continuing the government's policy of buying coffee. As coffee prices and demand for coffee worldwide fell in 1957, Alkmin decided to keep the government's share of export profits in order to continue buying coffee in future years. This government proved very unpopular with coffee farmers, and led Alkmin to be savagely attacked by Lacerda.

In July 1958, the CCI reported that it had little money left to build the city. Panicked, Kubitschek's government issued bonds of public debt and at the same printed more money, worsening inflation. Aware that rising inflation and the rise in the cost of living and decline in real wages that went along with it were hurting the PTB's chances in the 1959 elections (Kubitschek being determined to win reelection to supervise the completion of Brasilia in 1961), Kubitschek decided to seek a loan from the IMF in November 1958. An IMF experts team had visited Brazil earlier in 1958 to assess the country's ability to honour the planned $300 million loan. The IMF demanded that Brazil cut spending, review its exchange rate policy, suspend subsidies, cut wages and abandon its defense of coffee policy. Though accepting these conditions would affect the government's ability to carry out the Goals Plan, Kubitschek decided to accept these conditions in November 1958 and proceeded to a cabinet shuffle. The technocrat Lucas Lopes replaced Alkmin in Finance.

In January 1959, the government presented its IMF-approved Stabilization Plan which included tax hikes, restrained credit, spending cuts and elimination of subsidies. With Conservative support, the plan was approved. However, discontent flared on the left. The Communists were picking up steam, and discontent on the PTB's left was brewing. The unions were becoming restless, and strikes increased despite the Labour Ministry's attempts to control them. Goulart himself, still Deputy Prime Minister, was drifting away from Kubitschek who was suffering from association with the technocrats in Finance, CCI and National Development. At the same time, Kubitschek was growing frustrated with the roadblocks the IMF plan had put on his ambitious political agenda. He also viewed the rising discontent on the left as more dangerous than the traditional opposition of liberals and the right. A week before the provincial elections in June 1959, in a rash and flamboyant manner, Kubitschek declared that he was abandoning the Stabilization Plan which was putting roadblocks on Brazil's march towards progress. He proceeded to dismiss Lucas Lopes from Finance and also dismissed Roberto Campos, the liberal director of the Imperial National Development Bank. Sebastião Pais de Almeida took Lopes' spot.

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1959 elections

The PTB suffered heavily in the 1959 election. In São Paulo, incumbent Conservative Governor Jânio Quadros was easily reelected. In Rio, Carlos Lacerda's Conservatives narrowly defeated Sérgio Magalhães (PTB), the incumbent Governor since Roberto Silveira had resigned earlier in 1959 to run for Senate. The PTB managed to hold Minas Gerais, where José Francisco Bías Fortes was comfortably elected. In Rio Grande do Sul, a state where the PTB was traditionally omnipotent, factional war erupted in the wake of the retirement of long-time Governor Ernesto Dorneles, Vargas' cousin. On the left, Leonel Brizola and on the right, Ildo Menegheti were vying to succeed Dorneles. The PTB held its huge majority in the Provincial Assembly, but the PTB Right allied with the Conservatives emerged slightly stronger than the PTB Left and the small FP. Ildo Menegheti thus narrowly became Governor.

Parliament was dissolved on schedule for September elections. Although Juarez Távora remained the nominal leader of the Conservative Party, the Conservatives became increasingly dominated by and associated with its two most prominent figures, Govs. Carlos Lacerda (RJ) and Jânio Quadros (SP). Kubitschek remained personally popular and rather well-liked, and the PTB, although rampant factionalism, remained stronger and better organized than the Conservatives. At the polls, the PTB won the popular vote 42-40.5 but won only 2 more seats than the Conservatives (115 vs. 113), while all smaller parties, PCB included, suffered significant loses. In the Senate, the PTB lost its majority while the Conservatives gained control.

Chamber of Deputies

Brazilian Labour Party 41.9% winning 115 seats (-6)
64 DS, 51 PLS
Conservative Party 40.5% winning 113 seats (+12)
63 DS, 50 PLS
Brazilian Communist Party 9.1% winning 13 seats (-3)
2 DS, 11 PLS
Popular Front — Radical-Socialist Alliance 3.9% winning 5 seats (-2)
1 DS, 4 PLS
Brazilian Integralist Action 3.4% winning 4 seats (-1)
0 DS, 4 PLS
Others 1.2% winning 0 seats (nc)
0 DS, 0 PLS

Senate
 
Conservative Party 30 seats (+6)
Brazilian Labour Party 29 seats (-5)
Brazilian Communist Party 1 seat (-1)

[Hash]

Premiers:

Zacarias de Góis e Vasconcelos: 1866-1870
José Maria da Silva Paranhos, Visconde do Rio Branco: 1870-1875
Luís Alves de Lima e Silva, Duque de Caxias: 1875-1878
José Antônio Saraiva: 1878-1884
Franklin Américo de Meneses Dória: 1884-1885
João Lustosa da Cunha Paranaguá, Marquês de Paranaguá: 1885
João Maurício Wanderley, Barão de Cotejipe: 1885-1887
João Alfredo Correia de Oliveira: 1887-1888
Afonso Celso de Assis Figueiredo, Visconde de Ouro Preto: 1888-1893
Lafayette Rodrigues Pereira: 1893-1897
Rodrigo Augusto da Silva: 1897-1901
Eduardo Ernesto da Gama Cerqueira: 1901
Francisco de Paula Rodrigues Alves: 1901-1906
Afonso Augusto Moreira Pena: 1906-1909
Venceslau Brás Pereira Gomes: 1909-1912
Manuel Ferraz de Campos Sales: 1912-1913
Altino Arantes Marques: 1913-1915
Hermes Rodrigues da Fonseca: 1915-1920
José Joaquim Seabra: 1920
Artur da Silva Bernardes: 1920-1923
Washington Luís Pereira de Sousa: 1923-1930
Getúlio Dornelles Vargas: 1930-1945
Eduardo Gomes, Barão de Petrópolis: 1945-1948
Getúlio Dornelles Vargas, Marquês de São Borja: 1948-1955
Marshal Henrique Teixeira Lott: 1955-1956
Juscelino Kubitschek de Oliveira: 1956-


Governors of Minas Gerais:

Francisco Silviano de Almeida Brandão: 1896-1901
Afonso Augusto Moreira Pena: 1901-1906
João Pinheiro da Silva: 1906-1908
Venceslau Brás Pereira Gomes: 1908-1909
Júlio Bueno Brandão: 1909-1914
Artur da Silva Bernardes: 1914-1920
Raul Soares de Moura: 1920-1924
Fernando de Melo Viana: 1924-1932
Olegário Dias Maciel: 1932-1933
Benedito Valadares Ribeiro: 1933-1945
Milton Campos: 1945-1947
Juscelino Kubitschek de Oliveira: 1947-1956
Clóvis Salgado da Gama: 1956-1959
José Francisco Bías Fortes: 1959-

Governors of SP:

Pedro Vicente de Azevedo: 1896-1902
Manuel Ferraz de Campos Sales: 1902-1912
Altino Arantes Marques: 1912-1913
Manuel Joaquim de Albuquerque Lins: 1913-1917
Altino Arantes Marques: 1917-1920
Washington Luís Pereira de Sousa: 1920-1923
Carlos de Campos: 1923-1924
Antônio da Silva Prado: 1924-1926
Carlos de Campos: 1924-1927
Júlio Prestes de Albuquerque: 1927-1930
Armando de Sales Oliveira: 1930-1938
Ademar de Barros: 1938-1947
Adhemar de Barros: 1947-1950
Hugo Borghi: 1950-1953
Lucas Nogueira Garcez: 1953-1956
Jânio Quadros: 1956-

Governors of Rio de Janeiro:

José Bento de Araújo: 1896-1902
Quintino Antônio Ferreira de Sousa Bocaiúva: 1902-1908
Francisco Chaves de Oliveira Botelho: 1908-1911
Nilo Procópio Peçanha: 1911-1920
Nilo Procópio Peçanha: 1920-1926
Antônio da Silva Prado Júnior: 1926-1930
Antônio da Silva Prado Júnior: 1932-1935
Protógenes Guimarães: 1935-1938
Ernâni do Amaral Peixoto: 1938-1956
Roberto Silveira: 1956-1959
Sérgio Magalhães: 1959
Carlos Lacerda: 1959-

Governors of Rio Grande do Sul:

Gaspar da Silveira Martins: 1896-1901
Justo de Azambuja Rangel: 1901-1902
Carlos Barbosa Gonçalves: 1902-1908
Antônio Augusto Borges de Medeiros: 1908-1926
Getúlio Dornelles Vargas: 1926-1930
José Antônio Flores da Cunha: 1930-1938
Osvaldo Cordeiro de Farias: 1938-1943
Ernesto Dorneles: 1943-1959
Ildo Menegheti: 1959-

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Unraveling: 1959-1961

Kubitschek's government was returned to power with a very narrow 2 seat edge over the Conservatives in the Chamber and faced a Conservative Senate. This was the first time since 1920 that the government did not have control of the Senate.

Kubitschek retained most of his previous government, with Sebastião Pais de Almeida retaining Finance and Ernani do Amaral Peixoto staying on as National Development Minister. Francisco Negrão de Lima, a former Vargas cabinet minister, became Foreign Minister in one of the most important post-election cabinet changes.

Buoyed by their success at the polls in September, the Conservatives proved to be a formidable opposition. Carlos Lacerda, whose political leverage was even more important as a Governor, was determined to be a thorn in the side of the Kubitschek-Goulart cabinet. Yet, more and more Conservatives began to see Juarez Távora as an inadequate leader who struggled to convince voters of his ability to be Prime Minister. In November 1959, facing a backbench revolt backed by Quadros and Lacerda, the two most powerful Conservative governors, Távora stepped aside and opened the field for a leadership contest. Lacerda announced that he would not be a candidate for the party's leadership, largely because he was relatively new on the political scene and the establishment doubted that a firebrand like Lacerda would be able to win an election. The first candidate to emerge was the establishment candidate, Juracy Magalhães, a former tenente in the 1920s and later a Liberal ally of Vargas who turned on Vargas following the Second Additional Act. Magalhães had already led the Conservatives in the 1939 election and had served as Eduardo Gomes' Labour Minister between 1945 and 1948. Magalhães, however, was a weak candidate. He presented an analysis of Brazilian society which was relevant to the 1930s but which failed to understand the new trends in society which had taken place under Vargas' 1948-1955 government and Kubitschek's government. The firebrand right-wing media saw him as a boring, moderate and archaic candidate. In his stead, the Conservative Party's right-wing and Lacerda backed the popular and charismatic Governor of São Paulo Jânio Quadros. Quadros, who had been elected governor in 1956 and reelected in a landslide in 1959 had risen to fame on an anti-corruption and moralist platform which won him the support of middle-class voters and some working-class voters. Lacerda saw Quadros, an appealing and modern politician, as the leader the party needed to win an election. Lacerda though that Quadros, though slightly erratic and with a penchant for the bottle, could be easily manipulated into being an instrument of his right-wing faction. In a January 1960 leadership ballot, Quadros was elected leader by a wide margin raking up the votes of the South and Southeast. Carlos Alberto Alves de Carvalho Pinto succeeded him as Governor and Quadros won a by-election to enter Parliament in March 1960.

The government's magic which had worked marvelously until 1958 unraveled quickly. First, it could only pass its 1960 budget with PCB and FP support, and it passed in the Senate only when a Conservative Senator switched over. Then, in February 1960, the CCI reported a delay in the planned completion of work on Brasilia from April 1960 to October 1960. A series of scandals were revealed a month later by Lacerda's friends, and for the first time the government was seriously hit by them. According to the media, the CCI was rife with nepotism, bribery and kick-backs. The CCI's leadership took generous kick-backs from construction companies working on Brasilia. The airline Panair do Brasil, owned by allies of the government, was accused of holding a monopoly on the transportation of goods and persons to Brasilia as roads linking the new capital with the coast were still not finished. The press alleged that nepotism was the norm in the government, and that government agencies for regional development were corrupt. Lacerda and Quadros called for resignation of the CCI's leadership and Amaral Peixoto, the Minister of National Development.

The economic situation was slowly worsening following the government's break with the IMF in June 1959. Inflation was predicted to reach a new high in 1960, and real wages remained low. Labour unrest was mounting, while the military was increasingly radicalized following the 1959 Cuban Revolution. The PTB Left found itself increasingly isolated, and feared that the PCB could benefit from the government's declining unpopularity.

The inauguration in grand pomp of Brasilia in October 1960 provided the government with a brief respite. Attended by the entire government, most governors (excluding Lacerda), the Emperor and the Imperial Family as well foreign dignitaries including American President Dwight Eisenhower, the lavish ceremony was a major success and a popularity-booster for the government. The government apparatus slowly moved from Rio to Brasilia between October 1960 and April 1961. The Emperor and the Imperial Family moved to their new Palace in the spring of 1961.

The good mood proved short lived as labour struggles intensified in early 1961 and the right-wing media viciously attacked the government for corruption and nepotism. The Conservatives were slowly gearing up for a snap election, and were on the verge of forcing an election over the 1961 budget (the PCB and FP were ready to vote against the government) when Kubitschek announced his resignation, effective upon election of a new leader, on February 6, 1961. The government was able to get sufficient Conservative and Communist support to pass its budget in March 1961.

The PTB leadership knew that it would go down to defeat in the next election and further knew that it could not survive until the scheduled September 1962 date. The Conservatives were only waiting for the PTB to pick itself a new leader to force snap elections. With most of the PTB's top contenders, such as Goulart and Amaral Peixoto, bowing out of the contest the PTB's leadership contest in March 1961 was a very low-key affair. Francisco Negrão de Lima was elected leader, defeating Tancredo Neves, a deputy from Minas Gerais.

Francisco Negrão de Lima became Prime Minister in late March 1961. Not eager to call an election which would surely see him defeated, Negrão de Lima tried to make the government survive for as long as he could. However, he chose a poor strategy. Believing, perhaps rightfully, that inflation was the cause of the government's unpopularity, he decided to re-open negotiations with the IMF as early as April 1961. Most of the Goals Plan was slowly abandoned and the new government increased taxes, limited spending and re-opened the hot issues of exchange controls and coffee policy. The tax hike, followed by a hike on the tax on basic foodstuffs, proved extremely unpopular. In early May 1961, Goulart resigned from the government in silent protest of the new policy. Yet, the government continued its new policy and presented to Parliament a Second Stabilization Plan in mid-May. The plan, which formalized tax hikes, exchange controls and restrained credit, was very poorly received. The PTB Left allied itself with the PCB and FP to provide a left-wing front against the plan. The Conservatives, though in agreement with the technicalities of the plan, refused to back the government and demanded an early election. On May 23, 1961; the Chamber of Deputies voted down the Stabilization Plan 161-89 (26 PTB deputies voted against). The Senate rejected it 34-26 (3 PTB Senators voted against). Because it was presented as a money bill, the Emperor concluded that the government had lost supply and forced a snap election.

A divided, demoralized PTB entered the election campaign as certain to lose. Negrão de Lima barely campaigned and announced that he would step down within a year if reelected. The construction of the PTB's party list for the party-list seats only intensified party divisions between the Left (which opposed the Negrão de Lima government) and the Right (where Negrão de Lima found his remaining support). In the end, a party-list acceptable to both factions was constructed, but the wrangling and back-room deals done out in the open prior to the presentation of the party-list hurt the party. The Conservatives, on the other hand, presented a fresh alternative and formed a united caucus. Quadros, popular with both middle-class and working-class voters, had a large personal vote which he attracted to the Conservatives. Quadros campaigned heavily on corruption, with the broom as his symbol, and vowed to clean the country up of corruption. His economic platform was eclectic, supporting inflation controls and cleaning up the country's finance but also taking a developmentalist line and controls on foreign profit remittances. At the polls in July 1961, the voters gave the Conservatives a crushing win.

Chamber of Deputies

Conservative Party 49.0% winning 150 seats (+37)
89 DS, 61 PLS
Brazilian Labour Party 34.2% winning 80 seats (-35)
38 DS, 42 PLS
Brazilian Communist Party 8.4% winning 11 seats (-2)
1 DS, 10 PLS
Popular Front — Radical-Socialist Alliance 3.3% winning 4 seats (-1)
0 DS, 4 PLS
Brazilian Integralist Action 3.1% winning 3 seats (-1)
0 DS, 3 PLS
Others 2.1% winning 2 seats (+2)¹
2 DS, 0 PLS

Senate
 
Conservative Party 36 seats (+6)
Brazilian Labour Party 23 seats (-6)
Brazilian Communist Party 1 seat (nc)




¹ Two former PTB Left MPs from Rio Grande do Sul reelected as independents with FP support.

[Niemeyerite]

I can't believe it!!! is this an update? =)

[Hash]

I can't believe it!!! is this an update? =)

Does it not seem like one? Like it?

[Niemeyerite]

I can't believe it!!! is this an update? =)

Does it not seem like one? Like it?

hahah, yes it does =) and, yes, I like it ^^

[Simfan34]

Can we please bring this back?

[k-onmmunist]

Can we please bring this back?

[Niemeyerite]

Can we please bring this back?

[Kitteh]

Can we please bring this back?

[Sec. of State Superique]

Brasileiro com muito orgulho e estou adorando o trabalho. Preciso traduzir?

[batmacumba]

God, Hash! Impressive work here. I must confess that few Brazilians have such a knowledge about pre-Vargas party politics and only specialists do know anything about the imperial internal politics. Unfortunately, I'm not one of them.

I would only reprehend your bypass on the UNE's strong role on politics since its creation (It would last until the end of the military dictatorship, with a small revival on Collor's impeachment).

BTW, I imagine João Mangabeira is the leader of the Radical-Socialist Alliance at this point, is him?