Classified US documents about the 1964 coup in Brazil
James N. Green is a professor of Brazilian history and culture at Brown University, author of 11 books about Brazil, president of the Board of Directors of the Washington Brazil Office (WBO), and director of the Opening the Archive Project. This article was originally published in the Brazilian magazine Carta Capital on December 8, 2023, and then reproduced in issue 97 of the WBO weekly newsletter. To subscribe to the newsletter, enter your email in the form at the foot of the article.
The U.S. government still keeps around a thousand classified documents on the 1964 coup and the dictatorship that lasted 21 years in Brazil. We want US President Joe Biden to declassify these files so that we can have a better understanding of this historical period that is so important for both countries.
Through the Opening Archives project, we have already gained access to 60,000 records produced by different agencies of the U.S. government. These documents were fundamental for scholars of the period to be able to put together much of the puzzle about the relations between the U.S. government and the Brazilian dictatorship that we know about today. But there are portions of this puzzle that are still unclear. The approximately one thousand documents to which we request access can now help to better understand, for example, U.S. collaboration and financing of sectors of the Brazilian police involved in the persecution, torture, and death of political dissidents.
The moment is opportune. In 2024, we will remember the 60th anniversary of the 1964 coup d'état and the 200th anniversary of the recognition of Brazil's independence by the United States. Furthermore, we have a more recent fact: the important support that the Biden government gave to democracy in Brazil in 2022, by joining the international defense of the Brazilian electoral system when it was harshly attacked by former President Jair Bolsonaro.
We understand that opening these files would be a gesture of convergence between the two governments toward transparency and a mutual appreciation of democracy. The United States did not play a positive role in the 1964 coup, it is true. But history is not static. While it is true that an evil from the past cannot be reversed, it is also not true that we have to remain paralyzed by that evil. On the contrary, we must make every effort to do, today, for democracy what was not done before. And the opening of these archives is an important gesture in this direction.
On July 5, 2023, we sent a letter to President Biden asking for these documents to be declassified. The request was made based on the “commitment to transparency and the defense of democracy” that was so evident in the statements in support of Brazilian democracy in the last election, won by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
The document sent to Biden half a year ago was signed by sixteen Brazilian civil society organizations and eight prominent individuals. The entire group has been very involved in research on this historical period and in the defense of democracy.
The text, addressed to Biden, says: "By declassifying documents related to the Brazilian dictatorship, you would demonstrate your unwavering commitment to truth, responsibility, and the rule of law. Furthermore, it would send a powerful signal to the Brazilian people that the United States stands with them [the Brazilian people] in their quest for justice and defense of democracy. Declassification would also provide valuable information about human rights violations committed during the Brazilian dictatorship and clarify the degree of the United States' involvement in or knowledge of these events. This act of transparency would also strengthen the foundations of our bilateral relationship, fostering trust and collaboration on important issues such as human rights, democracy, and regional stability."
The decision is Biden's, but Congress plays a very important role in US foreign policy. Therefore, on December 5, 2023, we redoubled our efforts in Washington, holding a briefing with U.S. congressional representatives and senators interested in the issue. With the support of Democratic Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez, two Brazilian colleagues, political scientist Maria Hermínia Tavares from the Brazilian Center for Analysis and Planning (CEBRAP) and Gabrielle Abreu from the Vladimir Herzog Institute, and I made a presentation on the importance of having access to these classified documents.
Recently, Chile made a similar request to the U.S. government on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the coup d'état that overthrew socialist President Salvador Allende and began 17 years of dictatorship led by General Augusto Pinochet. Following a request from Chile, the U.S. State Department published the daily briefing to the US Presidency for September 8 and 11, 1973.
It is known that the U.S. government played a leading role in the coups and military dictatorships that swept Latin America and the Caribbean during the Cold War. This is a nefarious and well-documented past, about which we already know a lot, but not enough.
Over the years, we have come to better understand the webs of cooperation between military governments, not only with the United States but also among each other. Brazil, for example, where the coup was carried out in 1964, played a preponderant role in Chile, where the coup would only occur nine years later. Today we know about the credit lines that were opened by the Brazilian government to the Chilean military junta, in addition to the export of instruments of torture and the knowledge used to subject prisoners at the National Stadium in Santiago to the tortures about which we are all familiar.
Developing knowledge about these facts is an effective way to better understand history and to build a future in which the countries of the Americas are linked by common ideals of the promotion, defense, and preservation of democracy and human rights. This would be in contrast to the dark years of dictatorships, which will be better studied and debated by new generations.
