Preventative Coup of November 11

Preventative Coup of November 11

Brazilian army waiting outside of Café Filho's residence to prevent him from reassuming the role of president
Date10 – 12 November 1955
Location
Brazil
Result Carlos Luz removed from office, Nereu Ramos installed as president
Belligerents
Brazil Brazilian Armed Forces Brazil Luz cabinet
Commanders and leaders
Brazil Henrique Teixeira Lott
Brazil Nereu Ramos
Brazil Juscelino Kubitschek		 Brazil Carlos Luz
Brazil Café Filho

The Preventative Coup of November 11,[1] sometimes called the 1955 Brazilian coup d'état or referred to as an "anti-coup"[2] or a "counter-coup"[3] (Portuguese: Novembrada, Movimento de 11 de Novembro, Contragolpe, Golpe Preventivo do Marechal Lott), was a series of military and political events led by Henrique Teixeira Lott[4] that resulted in Nereu Ramos assuming the presidency of Brazil until being peacefully succeeded by Juscelino Kubitschek a few months later. The bloodless coup removed Carlos Luz from the presidency because he was suspected of plotting to prevent Kubitschek from taking office. As a result of the tensions, Brazil had three presidents in the span of a single week.[5][6]

Background

Henrique Teixeira Lott in 1955

The seeds of the coup began in August 1954 when associates of then-president Getúlio Vargas tried to assassinate opposition journalist Carlos Lacerda.[7] The Brazilian Army pressured the president to leave office; in response, on August 24, 1954, Vargas killed himself. Riots broke out in support of the now-dead president, and vice-president Café Filho assumed the presidency. The Minister of War Euclides Zenóbio da Costa [pt], who had been part of the effort to remove Vargas, resigned and to replace him Café Filho appointed the relatively unknown and apolitical Henrique Teixeira Lott.[1]

The next presidential election was scheduled for October 3, 1955, and Juscelino Kubitschek, governor of Minas Gerais, announced his intention to run. Military leaders, including Lott, had been hoping for a single national unity candidate to run and wrote a secret memorandum to Café Filho encouraging him to find a unifying presidential candidate. The memorandum began to leak to the public and Kubitschek took this as a sign that the military opposed his candidacy. Unable to find a suitable candidate, General Juarez Távora, the primary author of the memorandum, eventually decided to run against Kubitschek while Café Filho promised to remain neutral.[8]

As the campaign progressed rumors spread that Kubitschek was being supported by communists. Indeed, Luis Carlos Prestes, the wanted head of the banned Brazilian Communist Party, had been encouraging his members to vote for Kubitschek in the hopes that he would legalize their banned party. Kubitschek, however, said he had no intention to legalize the communist party.[8]

The votes in the election were split four ways with no candidate receiving a majority. Kubitschek was declared the victor, but his opponents called the results into question. They claimed that candidates required a majority of the votes to win and that the votes by known communists for Kubitschek should be discounted.[5] However, the Superior Electoral Tribunal had previously ruled that a candidate need not get a majority of votes to win the election.[8] Café Filho insisted that he would ignore calls to undo the results of the election.

On November 1, Colonel Jurandir Mamede [pt] gave a public speech calling for the election results to be overturned.[9] This outraged Lott, but he did not have the direct authority to discipline the Colonel. On November 2, Café Filho, who had had a heart attack years earlier, fell ill with cardiovascular problems.[8] Still unwell on November 8, Café Filho transferred power to the President of the Chamber of Deputies, Carlos Luz.[5] Carlos Luz had been an outspoken critic of Kubitschek and it was believed that he might prevent Kubitschek from taking office.[10] Lott demanded that Café Filho and, later, Luz punish Mamede and threatened to resign. The media magnified the conflict between the two and made it difficult for either side to compromise.[11] On November 10, Luz concluded that he would not punish Mamede and Lott resigned in protest effective the next day.

The "anti-coup"

The Catete Palace was the seat of the Federal Government of Brazil at the time of the coup

Late on November 10, Lott met with other army leaders of the country including General Odylio Denys [pt]. They debated how to respond to Lott's removal as minister and decided that Denys would lead the army to seize key points in the country. A few hours later, early on November 11, Lott changed his mind and decided that instead he would lead the movement. He ordered troops to take control of police buildings, telegraph operations and Catete Palace.[8]

The Almirante Tamandaré shown flanked by four smaller ships

Seeing signs of a coming coup, Luz left for the Navy Ministry where the Brazilian Air Force and Navy announced they were still supporting Luz. Luz then fled to the cruiser Almirante Tamandaré which sets sail for island port city of Santos, São Paulo where Luz hoped to organize resistance. As the Almirante Tamandaré moved to exit Guanabara Bay a nearby fort indicated by flag it would not be allowed to proceed. The cruiser ignored the warning and the nearby forts opened fire, but none of the shots connected. Carlos Luz ordered the Almirante Tamandaré not to return fire due to the possibility of civilian casualties.[12][8]

In the afternoon of November 11, the Chamber of Deputies and Senate were convened and voted to instate Speaker of the Senate Nereu Ramos as the new president.[2]

By the morning of November 12, it became clear that forces friendly to Lott held the city of Santos and that they would not allow the Almirante Tamandaré to land.[8] Defeated, Luz ordered the ship to return to Rio. On his arrival, Luz was met by Lott's army and was forced to promise to resign the presidency before he disembarked.[12] Luz had been president for just three days. Meanwhile, Café Filho, was still in the hospital. He learned of the coup and considered resigning, but, after counterproductive conversations with Lott, he decided to wait to hear his doctors' evaluation on his health. On November 21, Café Filho's doctors pronounced him healthy to return to work and so Café Filho issued a statement proclaiming himself to be president once again.[8] However, as he returned to the capital the military was mobilized once again. The army surrounded Café Filho's apartment and the presidential palace effectively placing him under house arrest. [13] Soon after Congress reconvened and voted to remove Café Filho from office.[14]

After the vote, Ramos asked Congress to declare a nationwide "state of siege" which passed and was later extended until Ramos left office.[9] Petitions asking Brazil's Supreme Court to intervene were declined because the country was now in a "state of siege".[8]

Resolution

Ramos continued to hold the presidency until a few months later when Kubitschek took office in January 1956. The supporters of Luz's brief presidency were never seriously punished although Mamede was briefly arrested and then later assigned to a remote army recruitment post.[8][11] Café Filho maintained that he had never planned to prevent Kubitschek from taking office.

References

  1. ^ a b RACHUM, ILAN (December 1977). "From young rebels to brokers of national politics: The tenentes of Brazil (1922-1967)". Boletín de Estudios Latinoamericanos y del Caribe (23): 41–60. JSTOR 25674995. Retrieved September 14, 2023.
  2. ^ a b Brewer, Sam Pope (November 12, 1955). "CONTROL IN BRAZIL IS SEIZED BY ARMY IN AN 'ANTI-COUP'". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 19, 2022. Retrieved September 14, 2023.
  3. ^ "Brazil - Kubitschek's administration". Britannica. Archived from the original on June 27, 2023. Retrieved September 18, 2023. However, Teixeira Lott, the war minister, and Marshal Odílio Denys, who commanded army troops in Rio de Janeiro, staged a "countercoup" on November 11, 1955
  4. ^ "BRAZIL: The Preventive Revolution". Time. November 21, 1955. Archived from the original on July 15, 2023. Retrieved September 14, 2023.
  5. ^ a b c Westin, Ricardo. "Há 60 anos, crise fez Brasil ter 3 presidentes numa única semana Fonte: Agência Senado". Senado Notícias (in Portuguese). Agência Senado. Archived from the original on September 15, 2023. Retrieved September 14, 2023.
  6. ^ "Brazil Quiet After Bloodless Revolt". The Los Angeles Times. November 13, 1955. p. 13.
  7. ^ Elizabeth Bishop (1967), Brazil, Time Life, pp. 151–152, OCLC 1240478456, Wikidata Q122543971
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j John W. F. Dulles (1970). Unrest in Brazil: Political-Military Crises 1955-1964. University of Texas Press. pp. 3–61. ISBN 0-292-70006-7. LCCN 75-101519. OCLC 1151681355. OL 21235785M. Wikidata Q122480989.
  9. ^ a b John J. Chin; Joseph Wright; David B. Carter (December 13, 2022). Historical Dictionary of Modern Coups D’état. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 186–189. ISBN 978-1-5381-2068-2. OCLC 1333688296. Wikidata Q122481594.
  10. ^ E. Bradford Burns (1980). A History of Brazil (Second ed.). Columbia University Press. pp. 448–450. ISBN 0-231-04748-7. OCLC 1200487733. OL 4422815M. Wikidata Q122538486.
  11. ^ a b José Maria Bello; James L. Taylor; Rollie E. Poppino (1966), A history of modern Brazil: 1889-1964, Stanford: Stanford University Press, pp. 323–333, OCLC 1149450400, Wikidata Q122540881
  12. ^ a b John W. F. Dulles (1991). Carlos Lacerda, Brazilian Crusader: Volume I: The Years 1914-1960. University of Texas Press. pp. 203–204. ISBN 0-292-71125-5. OCLC 253723791. OL 1878446M. Wikidata Q122564710.
  13. ^ "BRAZIL: What, Another Coup?". Time Magazine. December 5, 1944. Archived from the original on September 21, 2023. Retrieved September 14, 2023.
  14. ^ Thomas Skidmore (October 4, 2007), "IV Government by Caretaker: 1954–1956", Politics in Brazil, 1930 - 1964: An Experiment in Democracy - 40th Anniversary Edition, doi:10.1093/ACPROF:OSO/9780195332698.001.0001, Wikidata Q56807613