“A parrot who is changing feathers does not speak”: Authoritarianism and political disputes in Amazonas in the context of the 1964 Coup

Abstract

The Coup that deposed President João Melchior Goulart in 1964 started ina 21-year period of profound rupture of the constitutional order and the rule of law.Political rights were persecuted, mandates annulled, newspapers censored and occupied.Torture and repression became the focus, even though we may find important foci ofresistance to the Dictatorship. National Congress underwent a cleanup operation andsome parties – such as the Partido Trabalhista Brasileiro (PTB) – became the preferredtarget of this persecution. In the states, this political cleansing followed a similar patternto that occurred at the federal level. Governors were deposed, deputies and councilorshad their mandates annulled and the civil service suffered reprisals. Political disputesthat had been cultivated in previous years took on a new shape with the strengtheningof conservative sectors. This work intends to analyze the political disputes and rivalriesobserved in the context of the 1964 Coup in the state of Amazonas, stressing the processin which Governor Plínio Ramos Coelho (PTB) was overthrown and the new GovernorArthur César Ferreira Reis took office.