Between 1964 and 1985, Brazil modernized itself, but social inequality increased, as well as political repression, foreign debt and inflation, which again became rampant in the 1980s. The country’s economy also grew. Large road and energy works interconnected previously isolated regions, mainly in the North and Midwest. In big cities, television became the main source of entertainment for families and the middle class gained unprecedented access to homes, consumer goods and education – the number of enrollments in colleges increased 13 times between 1964 and 1981 and, between 1970 and 1972, the population with a car increased from 9% to 12%. But this phase of euphoria came at a high price: some sectors of the military and the police specialized in torturing, killing and hiding corpses. Censorship barred access to information and forced artists to live in exile. And it took a while for the people to resume the habit of going to the streets to demonstrate and demand for their rights.
Highs and lows
National economy did well, but social inequality increased
– (Davi Augusto/)
A COUNTRY FOR FEW
Between 1967 and 1974, the economy grew by an average of 9.3% per year. Industrial production soared, multinational companies boomed, and the unemployment rate plummeted. The Brazilian got used to buying a car and fueling it with alcohol. But if, in 1964, the 20% of the richest citizens held 55% of the wealth, in 1985 they had 70%
– (Davi Augusto/)
NATIONAL INTEGRATION
Concerned about energy autonomy, the military government built large hydroelectric plants, such as Itaipu, Tucuruí and Ilha Solteira. And, to integrate distant regions of the country, it multiplied the paved roads. He duplicated the Via Dutra and built the Rio-Niterói bridge – but he also wasted money on the Transamazônica
– (Davi Augusto/)
POP REPRESSION
“At that time, if there were elections, the Medici won.” And who said that, in the 90s, was former President Lula, opponent of the regime. In times of full employment, the government was very popular. But it was at the same time that the dictatorship reached the peak of repression against opposition militants, who kidnapped diplomats and robbed banks.
– (Davi Augusto/)
DRIBBLE THE CENSORSHIP
Newspapers, magazines and radio and TV stations coexisted with censors in the newsrooms. Some vehicles circumvented the prohibitions in encrypted form: this was the case with the sonnets by Luís de Camões published by Estadão. But it was the dwarf newspapers that best deceived the regime, with emphasis on The Quibbler and his interview with actress Leila Diniz
– (Davi Augusto/)
GAGED CULTURE
Censorship specializes in persecuting artists and cultural producers. Chico Buarque even adopted the pseudonym Julinho da Adelaide to approve compositions (it worked). On TV, Rede Globo featured the telenovela The Beloved, by Dias Gomes. But the humorous analysis of national politics had 37 of its 178 chapters defaced
– (Davi Augusto/)
90 MILLION IN ACTION
During the Médici government (1969-1974), the soccer team won the third World Cup in 1970, and the following year the Brazilian Championship began, with teams from all regions of the country. It was said that the choice of clubs that would participate in the tournament followed a saying: “Where the Arena (government party) goes wrong, a team in the national”. In 1974, the CBD (predecessor of the CBF) was commanded by an admiral, Heleno Nunes, who interfered in the call-up of players for the selection
– (Davi Augusto/)
LIE DEMOCRACY
Brazilians went to the polls five times to elect legislative positions. Elections for executive positions were indirect – in three of the five choices for president, the opposition had symbolic candidates. The elected councillors, deputies and senators did not bother: the executive branch used more than 2,000 decree-laws to govern
Sources Books The Open Dictatorshipby Elio Gaspari, Indiscreet History of the Dictatorship and the Openingby Ronaldo Costa Couto, and Watchdogs: Journalists and Censors, from AI-5 to the 1988 Constitution, by Beatriz Kushnir; site bnmdigital.mpf.mp.br
Consultancy Wilson Cano, economics professor at Unicamp