Document of the Week — American Businessmen’s Public Support for Increased Dictatorial Repression in Brazil 

See here the featured document of the week! The public support of American businessmen for the increase in dictatorial repression in Brazil.

Check out the full document in our collection: Telegram from Robert F. Corrigan to the Secretary of State on the perspective of businessmen on the reaction of the American press to AI-5

Many people have the impression that the United States was a great supporter of the Brazilian dictatorship. And in reality, especially at the beginning of the dictatorship, not to mention the United States itself. 1964 coup in itself, Washington's support was quite significant. From the moment, however, that the military regime began to increasingly authoritarian, throwing away some basic characteristics of the Democratic State of Law (habeas corpus, freedom of the press, inviolability of parliamentarians, separation of powers, etc.), as would happen with the decree of AI-5, in December 1968, the US government attempted to change its stance, despite the fact that this change was neither radical nor public, and was not sustained over time (the government Nixon, for example, would have excellent relations with the government Medici).

The same, however, cannot be said of business community American living in Brazil. In this case, what we can see from reading the official American documentation is the almost unconditional support of American businessmen for the military dictatorship, even in the bloodiest and most authoritarian moments of the regime, such as immediately after AI-5, for example.

This week's document illustrates this characteristic clearly. It is a thought-provoking conversation between the American Consul in São Paulo with members of the American Chamber of Commerce (Amcham) days after the enactment of Institutional Act number 5 by Costa e Silva government. Amcham businessmen were outraged by the criticisms that had been aired in the North American press, especially by the newspaper The New York Times, to AI-5, and were discussing the possibility of making some kind of public demonstration and/or private intervention with the North American government to express how biased the perspective of the Yankee newspapers would be, to the extent that AI-5, in the view of the business community, would have been an essential measure to save the so-called “Revolution" in Brazil.

The actions of the American Consul in São Paulo in this conversation are interesting. The American diplomat tried to argue, quite emphatically, against any type of public or private intervention by businessmen in favor of the Brazilian government and AI-5, emphasizing that, yes, Washington had been shocked by the measure because the Brazilian military had not acted as “heroes” to “save the Revolution”, but rather as actors who had reacted disproportionately and without thinking about a legitimate attitude of the Brazilian Congress of not allowing one of its members to be prosecuted in court at the request of the regime. At the end of the conversation, the businessmen said they would think about what the Consul had said.

Would they have reconsidered their position? In reality, no. A few days later, Amcham would release a public statement in support of AI-5, the Brazilian government, and criticizing the considerations made by the American press against the new Institutional Act. This shows a certain independence in the actions of private North American agents in Brazil, and the degree of commitment of these agents to the repressive regime that would be installed in an even more brutal way in the country from December 1968 onwards.

Prof. Dr. Felipe Loureiro,

Deputy coordinator of NACE CNV-Brazil,

Institute of International Relations at the University of São Paulo