February 1, 1964
Igor B. Cardoso
In response to statements by Bilac Pinto, president of the União Democrática Nacional (UDN), who claimed that groups of "anti-revolutionary militias" were ready for a coup d'état, President João Goulart (PTB) warned that any attempt to overthrow the government by force would cost "a lot of blood."
João Goulart's strong reaction, published in the
Jornal do Brasil
, expressed the worsening of the Brazilian political crisis. Allies of the president believed that Bilac Pinto's statements indicated a change in the UDN's tactics toward the government, shifting from "calculated restraint to the aggressiveness of the old days of the struggle against Vargas." Hence the need to respond to the UDN offensive "with another one, in the same terms and in the same tone, so as to draw the best popular advantage from the clash," the PTB members assessed.
João Goulart also emphasized that he had a "solid military apparatus, legalistic and defensive in character," backed by a new force, which he called the "5th Army," namely, union power. Goulart believed that this would thus commit the military to defending legality and his own mandate, which was not the case two months later.
Image description: The image is an old black-and-white newspaper. It is dated Saturday, February 1, 1964, published in the "Jornal do Brasil." The main headline is "Coluna do Castello" and the subheadline mentions "Goulart: coup will cost a lot of blood." The text addresses the attitude of President João Goulart regarding the UDN's offensive against the government. The lines are written in Brazilian Portuguese and present information about Brazilian politics at the time.“Goulart: golpe vai custar muito sangue”.
Rio de Janeiro, 1 de fevereiro de 1964. Fundo Jornal do Brasil / Fundação Biblioteca Nacional.