Lily Sternick

9C History

“Assess the significance of the USA in the 1964 Coup in Brazil”

The 1964 Coup d'état toppled President João Goulart's, who was also referred to as
"Jango", progressive government, ushering in an authoritarian state ruled by the military that
lasted until 1985. The coup mirrored the impact of the Cold War on Brazilian politics and
society, given its substantial anticommunist views. The cold war was an ideological battle
between two countries that already held world power and the need for superiority led to this
international dispute. The United States, together with factors such as the fear of communism in
Brazil, economic and the political crisis, held a certain amount of responsibility for the 1964
Coup.
Brazil's president from 1961 leading to the Coup was João Goulart. Jango was seen as a
left wing politician, the public believed he was a communist and feared the consequences of his
actions during the presidency. Jango was elected after Jânio Quadros who had resigned from his
presidency. At the time of Jânio's step back from power, Goulart was in Asia1, making the first
visit to Communist China. This created a terrible first impression for his government, proposing
a new president that could mirror the Chinese government ideals. This caused a national fear for
communism in Goulart's presidency. During the cold war, the United States strongly fought
against communism2 and held the responsibility to avoid any other country to turn into a left
wing government. John F.Kennedy and the White House were unsure of Goulart's presidency
from the start, however believed there was too much at stake in Brazil to isolate the president.
The United States could not bear to have another country in Latin America turn out like Cuba3,
therefore ended up taking measures and influencing the right-wing public in Brazil to strongly
disagree with any of Goulart's beliefs. The United States managed to provide economic
assistance in return for the support of any democratic organization.4 The US government called
these actions the Alliance of Progress.5This constant fear of communism in the country inclined
the public into supporting the right wing and the military dictatorship. At that time, people
believed that without any military intervention, João Goulart's government was slowly spiraling
into a leftist dictatorship. During his government, Jango acted as if he was recklessly stirring the

1
https://educacao.uol.com.br/disciplinas/historia-brasil/governo-joao-goulart-1961-1964-polarizacao-conduz-ao-golpe.htm
2
https://www.ushistory.org/us/52a.asp
3
The United States and the 1964 Brazilian Military Coup, Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Latin American History
https://edisciplinas.usp.br/pluginfile.php/4307854/mod_resource/content/1/Spektor%20US%20Military%20Coup%20in%20Bra
zil.pdf
4

https://edisciplinas.usp.br/pluginfile.php/4306803/mod_resource/content/1/Alliance%20for%20Progress%20and%20President
%20Jo%20o%20Goulart%20s%20Three%20Year%20Plan%20the%20deterioration%20of%20U%20.pdf
5

https://edisciplinas.usp.br/pluginfile.php/4306803/mod_resource/content/1/Alliance%20for%20Progress%20and%20President
%20Jo%20o%20Goulart%20s%20Three%20Year%20Plan%20the%20deterioration%20of%20U%20.pdf
 Lily Sternick
9C History

pot of social unrest and roaming towards a violent leftist revolution, directing Brazil into
becoming the next Cuba.
President João Goulart had a 3 year plan for Brazil's crippling economy. The plan aimed
to reduce rampant inflation and invert external imbalance without jeopardizing growth. It
moreover argued for structural reforms, particularly land and tax reforms, to address Brazil's
deep poverty and income inequality.6 Brazilian government officials immediately announced
that the plan would not be successful without any foreign intervention. The country wasn't
economically and politically stable enough to go through reforms on its own. Considering
Brazil's manufacturing sector's reliance on imports and combining high growth rates with
declining inflation, maintaining foreign commitments was highly unlikely without substantial
international assistance.7The Three-Year Plan was consistent with the Alliance's core values and
was introduced as the Brazilian representative program in the Alliance for Progress annual
report for 1962–1963. However , US aid did not arrive as planned. In April 1963, Washington
allocated a small sum of money to Brazil ($84 million)8 The Fund managed to fail in mid-1963,
putting an end to further US loans. The Three-Year Plan was quickly abandoned, contributing to
Brazil's deteriorating social, economic, and political outlook.9 With the failure of the reforms, the
military coup deposed President Goulart and began taking control of every single asset in Brazil.
Brazil's economy was suffering a major inflation crisis before the coup. Jânio Quadros
encountered the macroeconomic legacy, left by former president Juscelino Kubitschek, when he
took office in January 1961.10Because of President Kubitschek's policy of printing money to pay
off foreign debt, hyperinflation reduced Brazilian export volume, and local industries faced
serious issues. Juscelino Kubitschek had a famous slogan that was "Fifty years in Five". Some
argue that it could be resignified as "Fifty years' inflation in five"11 Goulart’s left-leaning
government held overall control over the labor force of the country. The nationalization of major
industries, including the oil refining and mineral ore industrial sectors, and also the proposition
for extremist land reform and redistribution, implied that the economic elite's power base
would be under threat. According to one right leaning journalist's article documenting the
events leading up to the 164 Coup, the conservative right wing population believed that the
government's usual favors done for them were being transferred to the lower classes, including

6
Marcelo de Paiva Abreu, “The Brazilian Economy,” in The Cambridge History of Latin America. Brazil since 1930, vol. IX, ed.
Leslie Bethell (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2008): 281-394.
7
3 CIA Memorandum, no 3936, 1962. Presidential Papers (hereafter PP), National Security Files (hereafter NSF), Ralph
Dungan Files (hereafter RDF), Box 390, Folder “Brazil General 11/62-12/62,” John F. Kennedy Library (hereafter JFKL).
8
4 Report, The Alliance for Progress: Its Second Year, 1962-1963. Second Report on the Progress of Economic and Social
Development in Latin America and Prospects for the Future, Second Annual Meetings of the Inter-American Economic and Social
Council (IA-ECOSOC) at the Expert Level and at the Ministerial Level, October-November, 1963, São Paulo, Brazil, Teodoro Moscoso
Personal Papers (hereafter TMPP), Box 3, Folder “The Alliance for Progress, 11/63”, JFKL, 171
9
A política econômica nos governos Jânio Quadros e João Goulart (UNESP, 2017): ch. 7.
10
https://iepecdg.com.br/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/180207ECONOMIA-BRASILEIRA.pdf
11
Brown University Library, Brasília, An attempt at rapid, visual, modernity.
https://library.brown.edu/create/fivecenturiesofchange/chapters/chapter-6/brasilia/
 Lily Sternick
9C History

most left wing supporters. Starting at 1962, the rate of growth of Brazil's Gross Domestic
Product began to slow in comparison to previous years, reaching a drop of 0.6 percent in 1963.
Meanwhile, inflation, which was around 51.6 percent in 1961, climbed to 80 percent in 1962 and
93 percent in 1963. Many economists were drawn to these occurrences, and numerous
interpretations of the crisis, which became known as the Brazilian economic crisis, were
suggested. This crisis was indeed a significant factor for the military intervention in the country,
as the situation was becoming out of Jango's leagues.
The United States had several key moments that were significant for the occurrence of
the 1964 coup in Brazil. In the end of July 1962, President Kennedy spoke with his advisors and
considered military options in Brazil.12 Moreover, in the end of 1962, President John F.Kennedy
asked his brother Robert Kennedy to arrange a meeting with brazilian president João Goulart,
and attempt to convince him to adjust the main perspectives and ideas of his mandate. This
meeting took place post the Cuban Missile crisis of October 1962. During the three-hour
meeting, RFK alerted Jango that the U.S had "gravest doubts" regarding brighter future
connections with Brazil, bringing up "signs of Communist or extreme left-wing nationalists
infiltrating civilian government positions" and opposition to "American policies and interests as
a regular rule." In a White House meeting in October 1963, Kennedy, together with his
counselors, analysed the situation at hand, in which they believed was in need of support for a
coup. Eventually, at the end of March 1964, after the Brazilian military had already made the
initial step towards the coup, President Johnson was informed by his advisors and ordered them
to do work entirely towards the Coup's success.
Overall, the U.S significantly impacted the 1964 coup, not only by its actions on João
Goulart's government, but also indirectly influencing the fear of communism in Brazil,
unsuccessful attempts to reform the economy which was at a low. The United States feared the
intervention of communism in Latin America and was willing to do anything in its power to
avoid the creation of a new Cuba. Its strong representation of capitalism and anti-comunist
views ended up influencing the right wing population of Brazil, and therefore also alarming the
public of how Goulart would lead the country to misery. To conclude, the United States
influenced the Brazilian Military Coup of 1964 through many factors and managed to mirror the
international battle of capitalism against communism into the national political crisis of Brazil,
splitting the country into left and right wing supporters and finally containing the chaos with a
military intervention that lasted 21 years.

12

https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu//NSAEBB/NSAEBB465/docs/Document%201%20kennedy%20brazil%20meeting%20July%2030,%2
01962.pdf