João Goulart

João Goulart was the Brazilian president overthrown by the military coup of 31 March 1964. A protégé of Getúlio Vargas who served as labour minister, he became vice-president and succeeded to the presidency when Jânio Quadros unexpectedly resigned in 1961. The military briefly blocked him — triggering a constitutional crisis resolved by a parliamentary system compromise — before he gained full powers in a 1963 referendum. His 'Basic Reforms' program threatened the established order: agrarian reform to break up latifundia, nationalization of oil refineries, rent controls, and literacy drives to enfranchise the rural poor. His 13 March 1964 rally in Rio de Janeiro, where he signed decrees nationalizing oil refineries and expropriating underutilized land, panicked the military, the Church, US ambassador Lincoln Gordon, and the CIA. The coup came two weeks later. Goulart fled to Uruguay without resistance, was sentenced to death in absentia, and died in exile in Argentina in 1976 — possibly poisoned by Operation Condor, as revealed by declassified documents in 2008.

• Lived: 1918 CE – 1976 CE
• Nationality: brazilian
• Roles: president, politician, head_of_state

Related

• The Cold War
• Brazil's Military Coup and the 21-Year Dictatorship (1964–1985)