PresidentJoãoGoulartspeaksfromtheplatformalongsideMinisterDarcyRibeiroandFirstLadyMariaTerezaGoulart

March 13, 1964

Danilo Araujo Marques

At 8:46 PM on March 13, 1964, João Goulart took the floor on the stage set up in the square at Central do Brasil. Anxious, the crowd awaited the president's speech. But the days leading up to the public event had been marked by a different kind of anxiety. Threats of an attack had reached the Palace, mentioning possible gunshots or bombs during the rally. Even though visibly apprehensive, first lady Maria Thereza decided to remain by her husband's side. Meanwhile, to Jango's left, union leader Oswaldo Pacheco served as a human shield.

Aware of the importance of the moment, João Goulart chose to speak off the cuff. For an hour and five minutes, he kept his train of thought, drank two glasses of water, and wiped his handkerchief across his face 35 times. The physical and emotional effort was intense. The words he chose would serve as a public declaration of his government's intentions.

And he decided to go on the attack: "The democracy they wish to impose on us is the democracy of the antipeople, the democracy against reforms," declared Jango, denouncing what he called "ideological terror" used by those who tried to prevent the rally. He even went so far as to defend the need to revise the Constitution, arguing that it no longer met the aspirations of the people.

Despite the charged atmosphere, there were moments of levity. At a certain point in the speech, Jango managed to draw a broad smile from Maria Thereza. He also softened the closed expression of the Chief of Staff minister Darcy Ribeiro – who used the pauses in the speech to whisper remarks and stock phrases into Goulart's ear. But the president did not hesitate to address controversial topics. He spoke of the takeover of private refineries, of the university reform that would eliminate lifetime professorships, and of the electoral reform that would allow illiterate people to vote. He also had the courage to highlight the topic of agrarian reform. "I know the reactions that await us," he admitted, "but I am calm, above all because I know that the Brazilian people have already matured, are already aware of their strength and their unity, and will not fail to support measures of a popular and nationalist nature."

A wave of euphoria took hold of the crowd of 200,000 people. The Comício das Reformas stood out as one of the most striking moments of that government. But it also marked a point of no return in the political crisis that, within a few days, would result in the coup and the removal of João Goulart from the Presidency of the Republic.

Image description: The image is a black-and-white photograph. Three people are standing on a platform. The woman on the left is smiling, with her hair pulled back in a voluminous style. In the center, a man is also smiling, with short hair. On the right, a man is speaking into a microphone, with short hair and a dark suit. At the top of the image, there are metal structures.