"MarchadaVitória"suddenly

April 2, 1964

Danilo Araujo Marques

Anyone who opened a major newspaper in the state of Guanabara in March 1964 would have had a good chance of reading the following call: "Carioca woman, carioca mother, carioca wife, carioca sister. Let's take to the streets before the enemies reach our temples and churches!". The ad served as a summons for the Marcha da Família com Deus pela Liberdade (March of the Family with God for Freedom): a procession that looked like a demonstration and political protest against the government of João Goulart, organized by conservative and Catholic women's associations, such as the Campanha da Mulher Democrática (CAMDE).

The plan was to follow up on the Marches of the Family that had begun on March 19th in São Paulo and that had been taking place in different cities across the country. Rio's edition had a set date, location, time, and route: Thursday, April 2nd, at 4 p.m., leaving from the square in front of the Igreja da Candelária toward the Esplanada do Castelo. "Come with us. March with us alongside God and the spirit of our heroes of freedom!" the invitation-announcement concluded.

However, between the organization and the actual occurrence of the march, a lot happened: a military uprising moved up the coup's timeline and heightened the boiling political crisis; President João Goulart left Rio de Janeiro and departed for Porto Alegre; and, in Brasília, senator Auro de Moura Andrade convened a joint session of the National Congress to declare the Presidency of the Republic vacant and guarantee the interim inauguration of the then-president of the Chamber of Deputies, congressman Ranieri Mazilli.

That's why the crowd of more than 800,000 people who squeezed onto Avenida Rio Branco that Thursday afternoon did not show up merely to take part in the Rio de Janeiro edition of the March of the Family with God for Liberty. They were there to celebrate the fall of President João Goulart in a demonstration that, overnight, came to be called the "Marcha da Vitória." In the following days, the photos published in newspapers and magazines displayed the consensus formed by a significant portion of civil society that took to the streets to voice support for the coup d'état.

Image description: This is a photograph of an animated crowd, possibly during a nighttime public event. The image is in black and white, with some details in light gray tones. People are gathered in an open area, with some raising flags. On the left, a figure holds a large flag with a blue and gold shield. In the center, several people raise flags, including a blue and white flag with a gold shield. On the right, more people watch the event. Everyone appears to be focused on something outside the frame.