CivilianmilitiascarryweaponsthroughthestreetsofGuanabaraonthedayofthecoup

April 1, 1964

Anna Carolina Viana

On April 1st, Carlos Lacerda ordered that all demonstrations of resistance to the ongoing coup d'état be identified and eliminated. The mission was given to civil and military police officers and to a paramilitary militia that had existed in Guanabara since 1963: the "Lacerda Men." The group's name was chosen by its own members and proclaimed their loyalty to the then-governor of Guanabara. This group was made up of around 300 men, and its operations were structured according to a military pattern: they were supposed to act as a shock troop and provide security cover at rallies. The weapons used by the group came from a clandestine stockpile set up in the Mário Filho Stadium, the Maracanã. The "Lacerda Men" had been part of the governor's official security scheme since the year of its creation. And they weren't the only ones acting at that moment: the existence of paramilitary militias was common in the late 1950s and the first half of the 1960s. These groups combined anti-communist rhetoric with extremely violent actions and were spread throughout the country: they operated in Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Mato Grosso, Alagoas, Paraná, and Santa Catarina.

The paramilitary militias were important to the coup from a pragmatic, ideological, and political standpoint: they attacked President João Goulart's support bases – newspaper offices being a common target –, spread anticommunist rhetoric against the sitting government, and strengthened the government's opponents by swelling the ranks in support of the coup movement. In the case of the “Lacerda Men,” besides their earlier role as armed security at rallies, the group was used by the governor to carry out a veritable “witch hunt” on April 1st. The militiamen paraded armed through the streets of Rio de Janeiro and crushed any resistance. One of the most critical moments of the group's actions was the attack on the building of the National Union of Students (UNE): the “Lacerda Men” hurled furniture, chairs, and books out of the windows, ransacked rooms, and threw Molotov cocktails into the building, whose façade was soon engulfed in flames.

Image description: The image is a black-and-white photograph. It shows a crowd of people walking down the street. On the left, a man wearing a leather belt is at the front, followed by other individuals. In the center, some men carry weapons, while others raise their arms. On the right, more people walk together, some with hands raised. The background reveals urban buildings.