ThecrowdattendstheReformRally

March 13, 1964

Danilo Araujo Marques

At the end of the afternoon of March 13, 1964, around 300 thousand people gathered at Central do Brasil in an event organized by a group of CGT union leaders. Made up of students, professors, intellectuals, and above all workers who had come from every corner of the country, a crowd took over Avenida Presidente Vargas, in the stretch between Candelária and Central do Brasil. That day, the flow of vehicles in downtown Rio de Janeiro was completely paralyzed. "Jango! We will defend your reforms with bullets," read one of the thousands of posters and banners that flooded the landscape of the rally.

After the introduction of well-known figures from politics and the left – such as federal deputy Leonel Brizola and the governors of Sergipe and Pernambuco, Seixas Dória and Miguel Arraes –, João Goulart took the stage and settled in to speak at the microphone. Despite the festive atmosphere, there was great concern for the president's safety, and, over the course of one hour and five minutes, he decided to speak off the cuff to mark his government's position: he announced the takeover of private oil refineries, the expropriation of unproductive lands along the margins of federal highways, railways, and reservoirs, and defended amending the Constitution to make the Basic Reforms program feasible. “Today,” Jango declared, “with the lofty witness of the Nation and with the solidarity of the people, gathered in the square that belongs only to the people, the government, which is also the people and which likewise belongs only to the people, reaffirms its unshakable resolve to fight with all its strength for the reform of Brazilian society.”

The crowd that was there to support Jango erupted in celebration. But for those who opposed and conspired against the government, holding a rally for the reforms in front of the Palácio Duque de Caxias – headquarters of the Ministry of War – was nothing but pure provocation. And, on that Friday the 13th, the alarm for the coup sounded.

Image description: The image is a black-and-white photograph of a crowd at a rally. At the top, there is a large sign with handwritten text in Portuguese. Below it, several people are holding other, smaller signs, also with text in Portuguese. In the center, a man is smiling and looking at the camera. The crowd fills the background of the image, with some signs visible in the hands of the participants.