In recent years, much has been said about the return of the military dictatorship in Brazil. Some people are openly in favour, others are fervently against. But you know what it means to the military dictatorship? You know what were and what would be the consequences of this type of government in our political scenario today?
Check it out now:
The concept of dictatorship
Dictatorship is a form of government that is autocratic, that is, only one person or organization holds all the power of decision, totally ignoring the principles of democracy.
What is a dictatorship?
In a dictatorship, there is no division of powers in Executive, Legislative, and Judicial. As a general rule, the government of the dictator is the one who acts in all these spheres.
In order to curb acts of opposition, there is control and/or prohibition of political parties. In the most extreme cases, but not rare, there are imprisonment of opposition, media censorship, banning of demonstrations opposing and termination of civil rights.
Almost always there is use of the armed forces in this type of autocratic regime dictatorial.
Variations of the dictatorship
1. The fascist dictatorship
The most famous case of the fascist dictatorship is also known as the Italian fascism, the period of government of Mussolini (1922 to 1945). In this political regime, the representation of the population is done in an autocratic way by means of the figure of the dictator. The concepts of race and nation prevail over the values of each individual.
2. The dictatorship of the proletariat
The Dictatorship of the Proletariat is a concept of marxism. In this case, the working class is who had the political power before the extinction of classes and the development of a communist society.
3. The military dictatorship
In most of these cases, the military came to power through coups, or is, an action in which the military overthrow the legitimate government with the aid of security forces.
When there is no support from the people, in general, there is a lack of respect for Human Rights, marked by cruelties, persecutions and torture.
Dictatorship and totalitarian regimes: what are the differences?
Although many believe that dictatorship and totalitarian regimes mean the same thing, there are some things that distinguish both:
• Dictatorship is a type of government authoritarian: authoritarianism is characterized by absolute obedience to authority and the absence of opinion of the population. However, there is a false idea that democracy and freedom still prevail;
• Totalitarian Regimes: in totalitarian regimes, there is an ideology that serves as the basis for the creation of a new society, for example, Nazism in Germany.
• In totalitarianism, there is some idolatry to the authorities, something that doesn’t happen in authoritarianism.
What was the military dictatorship in Brazil?
The military dictatorship in Brazil happened between 1964 and 1985. During this time, there were political persecutions, reproaches, prohibitions, repressions and tortures.
The Military dictatorship summary
As you learn more about the Military Dictatorship, check out the main events of that period:
The military dictatorship, 1964 to 1985 the main events:
Between the years of 1964 and 1985, Brazil had a military dictatorship as their form of government.
Now see what were the main events of that period:
1) The military coup of 1964: began on 31 march with the departure of João Goulart, the president at that time. The principle, the military regime should be a temporary measure in order to contain the communism and corruption. However, if extended over two decades;
2) the End of direct elections: the military has alternated in power in the country, having in view that the population had no right to vote;
3) political Persecution to supporters of João Goulart: the burning of the building of the National Union of Students (RJ) on the day subsequent to his termination, invasion of the University of Brasilia and the destruction of materials of the newspaper Zero Hour were some of the persecutions of the most extreme and striking;
4) Edition of the Institutional Act Number One (AI-1): with this, the Federal Constitution was changed, and indirect elections* to the president of the republic have been established;
* indirect election is one in which the people do not have the right to vote.
5) Creation of the National Service of Information (SNI): it was created under the pretext of overseeing information, but it was used for spying and monitoring of persons and bodies who were opposed to the government;
6) Revocation of the return of democracy: at the end of January 1966, the democratic regime should come back. However, there was an edition of the Acts of the constitution overturned this condition, and gave full powers to the military regime;
7) Edition of AI-3: AI-3, only the election of the president was indirect. After this issue, the governors also were elected indirectly and these could indicate the mayors of capital cities;
8) The famous AI-5: the AI-4 has established the creation of a new Constitution, which entered into force on 24 January 1967. This has been criticized and has generated numerous protests and, with that, came the promulgation of the Constitutional Act Number Five (AI-5). According to him:
• The powers of the president have been expanded
• The legislative branch has been closed
• Political rights were suspended
• The Federal Government started to intervene in state and municipal governments
• Public officials, opponents were dismissed
With this, came a period of repression and military power.
9) “Years of Lead”: the period which began on 31 August 1969, was known as well for the account of all repressions, and punishments that the government has instituted. At this time, many artists left the country for fear of being arrested and tortured;
10) The economic miracle: for the government of the Medici, there has been a large economic development in the country. The GDP grew by about 12% a year, although inflation border on the 18%. Happened to internal investments in infrastructure and, with it, millions of jobs have been generated, for example, in the construction of the Rio-Niterói Bridge and the Trans-amazon Highway. However, loans made have generated a large external debt;
11) the Process of democratization: began with president Ernesto Geisel in 1974, and was ended about ten years later;
12) Amnesty Law: established in 1979, allowed the return of exiles and the extinction of bipartisanship, or whatever the opposition was split into various parties;
13) Direct Already!: Happened between 1983 and 1984. It was the main movement for the return of democracy and demanded the return of direct elections for the President of the Republic, which occurred only on 15 November 1989;
14) the military Dictatorship conclusion/end: after the election of the civilian Tancredo Neves, the process of democratization was strengthened;
15) the 1988 Constitution: the Constitution that is in force until today was developed in the period of the post-dictatorship, eliminated the traces of the same to reestablish the country’s democracy and marked the end of the military dictatorship in brazil.
The military dictatorship – the presidents in chronological order:
During the Military Dictatorship, presidents were changed frequently, especially in the early years:
• Ranieri Mazilli: took office after the military coup of 64, but was in office only for 14 days, from 2 to 15 April 1964;
• Marechal Castelo Branco: was elected indirectly on 11 April and should be in power in the interim until January 31, 1966, the date on which the democracy would be reestablished. As we know, that was not the case after the establishment of new Acts Constitutional;
• General Costa e Silva: replaced Castelo Branco on 15 march 1967, after election by the National Congress in October 1966.
• Military Junta: on 30 August 1969 Costa e Silva fell ill. Not to be replaced by his deputy, a military junta was formed by the ministers, who edited the AI-12 to provide for them to take the power while the president does not recover. After that, they instituted more repressive measures by means of AI-13 and AI-14;
• Emilio Garrastazu Medici: took office on 30 October 1969 and sparked what we know today as the worst years of the military dictatorship in Brazil. Most of the complaints that the government was related to the:
• Torture, imprisonment, murder and exile of leaders of the left;
• Censorship on the media and cultural productions;
• Closure of newspapers and magazines;
• Modification of curricula of schools and universities in order to avoid questionings and revolts;
• Closure of college courses;
• Finally, during this period of Military Dictatorship, torture happened to those who were against the government of the Medici and the military coup. Some people are gone and have not been found until today.
• Ernesto Geisel: took over on 15 march 1974 and started the process of re-democratization of Brazil, determining modifications, among them the return of electoral propaganda, the political opening, the release of the commander of the army and the resignation of prime minister Silvio Fleet, leading to the isolation of the military opponents to the political opening;
• João Figueiredo: indicated by Geisel, was sworn in on 15 march 1979. It was in his government that was the important movement for the return of democracy: the Direct Already!;
• Tancredo Neves: civil indirectly elected, but who died before taking office;
• José Sarney: vice president of Tancredo Neves that led the country until the new direct elections that took place in 1989.
You have lived or know someone who has lived in the time of the dictatorship? Account to the people what you think of that period of our history!
