Document of the week! The dispute between Castello Branco and Costa e Silva over the presidential succession

Check out the full document in our collection: Telegram from Harold M. Midkiff to Rio Embassy addressing source reports on elections

The dispute between Castello Branco and Costa e Silva for the succession to the presidency

One of the disputes resulting from the dictatorship involved the dispute between the president White Castle and his Minister of War, Costa e Silva, during Castello's term (1964-1967). At the end of 1965, after the decree of the Institutional Act number 2, Costa e Silva anticipated Castello's moves and launched himself as a candidate for the presidency of the Republic, much to the president-general's dismay.

In today's document of the week we have an example of a short primary source, in terms of textual length, but very significant. It is a telegram from the North American Consulate in Salvador to the Yankee Embassy in Rio de Janeiro in April 1966, moments before the convention of the newly created ARENA decide which candidate the party would support for the 1966 indirect presidential elections. 

Among the pre-candidates were Costa e Silva himself, of course, and Bilac Pinto, former president of Chamber of Deputies and at the time Brazilian ambassador to France. The telegram from the US Consulate in Salvador reports that “a source close” to the federal deputy João Mendes – a politician anti-communist who stood out by leading a parliamentary front in opposition to the government João Goulart – would have said that Castello Branco was trying to “buy” delegates at the ARENA convention so that Bilac Pinto would be crowned the party’s official candidate for president, and that, in light of this, the military would be plotting to carry out a coup and immediately transfer the presidency to Costa e Silva, circumventing Castello Branco’s efforts.

Ultimately, Costa e Silva would win the official nomination as ARENA's presidential candidate, beating Bilac Pinto. But this nomination would not mean the end of coup rumors – now by Castello Branco – to try to prevent his Minister of War from becoming the future president of the Republic. 

Prof. Dr. Felipe Loureiro,

Deputy coordinator of NACE CNV-Brazil,

Institute of International Relations at the University of São Paulo