SailorsleavetheMetalworkers'Unionandcelebratethevictoryofthemutiny

March 27, 1964

Danilo Araujo Marques

The occupation of the sailors at the headquarters of the Sindicato dos Metalúrgicos do Rio de Janeiro, which began on March 25, 1964, was reaching its third day on Good Friday. That week, President João Goulart was spending some time in São Borja, his hometown in Rio Grande do Sul. However, after the sailors insisted on disobeying the orders of the Minister of the Navy, Sílvio Mota, and remained at the union headquarters, Jango rushed back to Rio de Janeiro.

The president arrived in the early hours of March 27. As soon as he got a grip on the situation, he appointed a new minister – Admiral Paulo Márcio Rodrigues, a left-wing military officer and a trusted man of the General Command of Workers (CGT) – and opted for a measure that further inflamed tempers among the Armed Forces officer corps. With the occupation demobilized by late morning, the sailors were not only sent to the Army's I Guard Battalion to avoid any retaliation from the Navy, but, a few hours later, were released and granted amnesty. Admiral Cândido Aragão – the commander arrested two days earlier for allowing the marine troops sent to demobilize the mutiny to join it – was reinstated to his post.

Euphoric with the outcome of the mobilization, the sailors marched through downtown Rio de Janeiro. They headed along Avenida Rio Branco toward Igreja da Candelária. The mood was one of celebration. Shouting “Long live Jango” and “Long live Admiral Aragão,” the sailors passed in front of the Ministry of War. From the windows of the Palácio Duque de Caxias, the officer corps watched the rebels' celebration in astonishment – and saw the whole thing as a direct provocation. There was only one interpretation: the Navy's high command had been publicly humiliated by this breach of the principles of discipline and hierarchy. And worse: with the direct approval of the President of the Republic. The Jornal do Brasil interpreted the episode as the last straw in a revolutionary process. In an editorial, it stated that “the rule of law has sunk in Brazil.” A solution through military intervention seemed ever closer.

Image description: This is a black-and-white photograph of a group of people celebrating. The image shows a crowd of men standing, all raising their arms in peace gestures. The individuals are arranged horizontally, from left to right, and from back to front. Everyone appears to be wearing casual clothing, with some wearing sailor uniforms.