March 13, 1964
Isabella Souza
It was still morning when the crowd began to form around the platform erected at the Central do Brasil station. Caravans from every state kept arriving nonstop, and the gray tone of the buildings gave way to the banners and posters brought by the nearly 300,000 Brazilians who wanted to hear President João Goulart announce the Reformas de Base, at the rally scheduled for 5:30 p.m.
The event, which was attended by significant names in national politics, such as Darcy Ribeiro, Miguel Arraes, and Leonel Brizola, was meant for Jango to be the announcement of the apex of his achievements as President of the Republic. The Reforms were meant to be the beginning of a movement toward social development and economic prosperity, without depending on foreign capital.
Facing the crowd, Goulart announced measures to guarantee the reforms.
agrarian, urban, educational, tax, and electoral reforms. He also announced that he would guarantee the emancipation of privatized oil refineries, set fixed rental rates across all of Brazil, expropriate unproductive land along the margins of highways and railroads in order to divide it up, and said he had the support of the Armed Forces.
The political climate, however, was not favorable. While a large part of the population received Jango's plans in ecstasy — especially the poorer population, which longed for the right to vote and to land — the newspapers announced that the ruralists of Minas Gerais, emboldened by the opposition, were already arming themselves to defend their properties, threatened by "Jango-style communism."
The President was being accused of running roughshod over the Constitution and of conspiring to stage a Coup d'État in the country. Political polarization definitively took hold after the Rally at Central do Brasil, and it can be considered the trigger for the coup that followed.
Image description: This is a black and white photograph of a rally. In the foreground, a man stands behind a podium, speaking into microphones. He is wearing a dark suit and has short hair. To his left, a woman in a light-colored dress stands looking at him. In the background, other individuals are present, some seated and others standing. To the left of the podium, a man in a suit is partially visible. In the lower part of the image, soldiers wearing helmets are standing.João Goulart e Maria Thereza Goulart no palanque.
Em destaque, o capacete de um policial. 13/03/1964. Arquivo Nacional