In the moments that preceded the decision to make the defendant, accused of coup d’état, the minister of, Flávio Dino starred in one of those moments, common in television judgments in national network. In his vote, he compared the undemocratic plots that culminated in attacking the three powers to the military dictatorship, launched 61 years ago. “They say that on April 1, 1964, no one died. Coup of state kills, no matter if it is the day or years later,” said the minister.
Dino’s comparison gave way to the old myth that the coup had been given, six decades ago, without the use of violence, and now arouses a question about what would be on December 16, 2022, the date following the Operation Green Yellow, which, according to investigations by the Federal Police (PF), planned President Lula (PT), Vice President Geraldo Alckmin (PSB) and the Minister of STF. If the plan were consummated, a blow to prevent the petista’s third term would trigger an even more serious scenario than the 1964, with more deaths, popular subsidiaries, economic crisis and international discredit, evaluate academics.
“There would be direct confrontation with society and more deaths,” says João Roberto Martins Filho, professor at UFSCar (Federal University of São Carlos) and author of the book “The Military and the Brazilian Crisis”.
“The scammers would face the escort of these authorities and the opponents on the streets.” The resistance in 2022, says the sociologist, would be greater, even because social movements articulate their actions over the internet. Martins Filho believes, in any case, that it would be difficult to implement an authoritarian government after the operation, because the 1964 and 2022 conjunctures were quite different.
Three years ago, he points out, most of the army’s high command did not support a coup adventure, nor the United States encouraged a dictatorship, as they did in, when they disputed territories of influence with the Soviet Union.
According to Martins Filho, the efficiency of the military is another difference between the times. The 1964 officers, he says, were used to political interventions and knew that the division of the Armed Forces could undermine the movement.
Institutions
According to the PF, the Operation Green and Yellow dagger was prepared shortly after the 2022 elections by General Mario Fernandes, which was the number two of the General Secretariat of the Presidency.
Investigations show that he printed the plan in the Planalto Palace while Bolsonaro was on site. The operation would be performed by members of the Army Special Forces, better known as “Black Kids”.
According to the PF, three days before the date scheduled for the murders, then Minister of Defense, General Braga Netto, received a group of military personnel in his apartment to discuss the plan, which stipulated the use of weapons and the poisoning of the authorities.
Investigators say Braga Netto raised funds for the operation, which was triggered. But at that date, the STF plenary session ended earlier, and the officers ended up aborting the mission. The former Minister of Defense, now arrested, denies involvement with the operation.
If it was successful, the plan provided for the establishment of a crisis office, led by Braga Netto and General Augusto Heleno, then chief minister of the Presidential Institutional Security Office.
Professor of Political Science at UFMG (Federal University of Minas Gerais), Leonardo Avritzer states that, by logic, the day after this operation would target the legislative and judiciary powers. “The STF would no longer exist as we know today,” he says.
The goal would be to change the composition of the Supreme Court and Congress. In this regard, Avritzer states that the new regime would take measures similar to institutional act number 1 (AI-1), promulgated on April 9, 1964, which determined the revocation of oppositionists, including Deputy Rubens Paiva, whose story was told in the film, winner of the Oscar.
Operation Green and Yellow dagger was just one of three non -democratic plots managed during the Bolsonaro government, says the report.
During this period, the operations were also planned, national pacification and to 142, which was based on a biased reading of article 142 of the Constitution. In recent times, the article has been evoked to justify military intervention, thesis that has already been dismissed by Congress and the judiciary.
The consequences of a blow in 2022 would be felt in geopolitical and economic terms.
“Brazil would be suspended from Mercosur, would be isolated from the United States, which was commanded by the [democrata] Joe Biden at the time would lose investors and suffer sanctions, “lists Carlos Poggio, an international policy expert and a doctor from USP.
Six decades ago, the United States gave Brazil a borrowing, at the time of US $ 500 million – equivalent to $ 2.5 billion – as soon as the military seized power.
Poggio estimates that the resistance to the coup would be greater, with the mobilization of popular movements over the internet, and highlights the difference in profile between the 1964 and 2022 military. “You can’t compare Castello Branco. [primeiro presidente da ditadura] With Braga Netto, “he says.
In any case, the possibility of more deaths in 2022 does not mean that in 1964 there was no resistance.
Dino’s statement echoed the military’s version, according to which the democratic rupture in the 1960s took place without violence or protests.
In the early hours of March 31, General Olympio Mourão Filho was still wearing pajamas when he called the Minas Gerais troop upris, soon supported by the São Paulo army. The military would only take the next day the headquarters of the artillery, neighboring the Copacabana Fort, in Rio de Janeiro. At that time, the then President João Goulart had already left Rio de Janeiro, on the run.
Researcher of the Military Dictatorship, UFMG History Professor Rodrigo Patto says that April 1, 1964 was marked by tension. “Violence was already striking from the first day,” he says, recalling the existence of protests in the main cities of the country.
With the blow, people fled, and many families rushed to do supplies. In these demonstrations, the dictatorship murdered students Jonas Albuquerque and Ivan Aguiar, in Pernambuco, Ari Cunha and Labibe Abudch, in Rio de Janeiro.
In Minas Gerais, Otávio Soares Ferreira da Cunha and his son, Augusto, were killed. The historian also reports that there have been arrests of opponents since March 30 of that year.
In analyzing the conjuncture of 2022, Patto sees many differences compared to 1964, including the lack of support from business sectors to democratic rupture, although society was also politically divided. “We narrowly escaped. The possibility of scam in Brazil was great, but it would be difficult for the new regime to stabilize in power.”
