PreparationmeetingfortheMarchoftheFamilywithGodforLibertyattheCAMDEheadquartersinRiodeJaneiro

March 24, 1964

Isabella Souza

After the Comício da Central do Brasil, opposition groups against João Goulart intensified their efforts to destabilize the government. On March 24, 1964, the women of the Campanha da Mulher Democrata (CAMDE), one of the main women's organizations engaged in promoting political actions against the leftists, met to organize the Rio version of the Marcha da Família com Deus pela Liberdade – which already had a date set: April 2, 1964.

Under the leadership of Amélia Molina Bastos – chosen as one of the ten personalities of the year 1964 by the newspaper O Globo –, CAMDE influenced similar organizations in other regions of Brazil and promoted cooperation among all of them. Championing the cause of the dedicated mother and wife and the exemplary housewife, these women united in a movement that claimed to defend “order” and “morality”, through military intervention and religious appeal.

At a meeting held on March 24, 1964, at the organization's headquarters – the Casa Nossa Senhora da Paz, in Ipanema –, all the details for holding the march were settled. A great deal of promotional material for the event was also produced. At certain moments, some speeches even stirred up tempers and warned of the possibility of sabotage, such as the blocking of roads and vandalism of means of transportation. The number of women interested in the meeting was so large that the hall quickly reached full capacity, and the overflow crowd settled into the corridors so as not to miss a single word of the information.

With the date, time, and location set, it was urgent to guarantee public attendance. The women of CAMDE began promoting appeals in the press to request logistical support for the march. And the strategy worked. The organization secured backing for the event and the provision of vehicles to transport the demonstrators. Many women volunteered to distribute campaign flyers at the doors of factories, schools, companies, and unions. And the space they gained in the media ended up being essential for creating a visual identity for the event: to make up the scenery of the march, banners, candles, rosaries, Brazilian flags, and countless green-and-yellow ribbons were requested by the organization.

Image description: This is a black-and-white photograph of a meeting. On the left, we see a seated woman writing in a notebook. She is surrounded by several standing women, some looking at her, others talking among themselves. In the center, a woman is holding an open notebook. On the right, more women are handing out sheets of paper. In the foreground, there are many stacks of white paper bundles. In the background, we see a large room full of empty chairs.