After receiving support from the United States by seizing the presidency and reinforcing its dictatorship, Brazil's military decided to use foreign interference to counter democracies around Latin America.
The idea was that operating outside its own borders would help weaken the continent's left and expand the reach of Brazil's repressive power. The region's capital, which once served as a haven for Brazilian political exiles, will soon become an outpost for the new dictatorship to monitor and even annihilate opposition.
Documents from the United States show that Brazil's military dictatorship rigged a 1971 election in neighboring Uruguay so it could have won at the polls even planning a military invasion. Two years later, an agreement between the elected president and the country's military placed Uruguay under military rule.
In the same year, 1973, the Brazilian military provided its know-how and logistical and diplomatic support to a violent military coup in Chile. At the time, Uruguay and Chile were home to the strongest democracies in the region.
A few years later, another military coup occurred in Argentina, beginning one of the bloodiest dictatorships in modern South American history.
If Brazil's dictatorship was already able to persecute its opponents abroad while keeping the lights on, imagine what it could have done in the 1970s when the lights were out in every corner of the region. . That said, we also had to learn how to walk in the dark and work with other dictatorships.
In the third episode of a special series that depicts Brazil's military dictatorship at home and abroad, we fly over South America, which was dominated by authoritarian rule in the 1960s and 1970s. We tell the story of how Brazil supported coups in the region and worked internationally to persecute exiles.
If you missed episode 2, check it out here.
Listen and subscribe to podcasts from your mobile device.
spotify, apple podcast, Google Podcasts, Deezer
This episode featured music from Envato. License Code: Dystopian Cyberpunk Cello by Orchestralis (XK3687SABD), Mysterious and Suspenseful Investigative Documentary by lucafrancini (7LB2QQX), Minimal Dystopian Ambient by Orchestralis (YF67RTZKMQ), Suspenseful Pulsing Drones and Strings by Orchestralis (HCYR5AGT7X), Korolkov's Sad Tango Violin WHG), AudioZen's Acoustic Guitar Background Ambient (REV3HRP), Orchestralis' Ambient Suspense (JUPKH36Y2B), and Orchestralis' Dark Melancholic Documentary Background (5CGVDMTLP4).
In this episode:
- Isabella Cruz He holds a law degree from the State University of Rio de Janeiro and a master's degree in social sciences from Fundação Getulio Vargas. Prior to Brazilian Report, he covered politics and the justice system for Nexo.
- Andre Pagliarini Professor of History at Hampden-Sydney College, specializing in Latin America.he is also a columnist brazil report.
- Robert Simon He is a journalist and international analyst with a master's degree in public policy from Harvard University. He wrote “Brazil Against Democracy: Dictatorship, the Chilean Coup, and the Cold War in South America'', published by Companhia das Letras in 2021.
Background knowledge about dictatorships in South America:
Have a suggestion for the next “Brazil Explained” podcast? Contact us at podcast@brazilian.report.
Please follow us X And Facebook.
