Historic “Central do Brasil” rally celebrates 50th anniversary

Exactly fifty years after the famous “Central do Brasil” rally, left-wing activists and members of trade unions and student organizations staged a demonstration on the same spot Thursday (Mar. 13) to remember the date. The famous rally was held by former President João Goulart, also called Jango, two weeks before a military coup initiated a 21-year period of dictatorship in the country.

Among the participants of the demonstration was Jango's son, João Vicente Goulart, who was seven years old at the time of the rally. “Brazil is under the same conditions now as it was fifty years ago, i.e., in need of a state reform so that we can make progress in the social, economic and political areas. It’s a pleasure to be here with the trade unions, the political parties and the student organizations. I am hopeful that after fifty years the younger generations may find inspiration in our historical roots to move forward and transform the country's social, economic and political model,” he said.

Lawyer Marcelo Cerqueira pointed out that he too took part in the event, along with President Jango. At the time, Cerqueira was the vice-president of the National Student Association (“UNE”). “Brazil lost a great opportunity, namely to carry out Jango's reforms. Later on, the military coup, supported by the US and the Brazilian right wing, led to the deposition of Jango, a great Brazilian, who sacrificed himself for the country. We missed a chance of being developed. We lost 21 years,” remarked Cerqueira, currently a  member of the Truth Commission of the State of Rio de Janeiro.

João Pedro Stédile, head of the Landless Workers Movement (“MST”), also took part in the protest, which was preceded by a seminar at the State University of Rio de Janeiro entitled “Fifty Years After the ‘Central do Brasil’ Rally: the Brazil that the military coup took from us”.

Stédile said: “Brazil missed several historic opportunities to carry out an effective land reform. The closest we got to this possibility was during João Goulart's government. He presented a fantastic proposal which could have changed Brazil. It consisted in expropriating all properties larger than 500 hectares along ten kilometers on both sides of federal highways, railroads, lakes and dams. This would have developed the country, created a huge domestic market and taken us out of the crisis. Brazil would be a great power today.”

In his historic speech, delivered on March 13, 1964, Jango announced the basic reforms he would subsequently submit to Congress. The plan covered reforms in the banking, tax, urban, administrative, land and higher education systems. Goulart also stressed the need for extending the right to vote to illiterate people and to the lower positions in the Armed Forces, like sailors and sergeants. It further proposed broader state intervention in the country's economic life and more control over foreign investments through the regulation of overseas remittances by international companies. Right-wing  parties and conservative sectors of society argued that Jango wanted to establish communism in the country and overthrew him on April 1, 1964.

Translated by Augusto Queiroz and Fabrício Ferreira