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According to Former President Cardoso, Brazil Still Lacks an Effective Democracy

03/25/2014 - 09h37

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RICARDO BALTHAZAR
"PODER" EDITOR

In 1964, former President Fernando Henrique Cardoso, who governed Brazil from 1995 to 2002, was a young sociologist trying to understand the environment of political radicalization that led to the fall of João Goulart. Following the coup, he knew that the police were looking for him and he went into exile.

Multimedia Article: All About the Military Dictatorship

Cardoso returned to Brazil in 1968. With political rights suspended by the military, he created a research center with other intellectuals persecuted by the dictatorship and went into the Brazilian Democratic Movement (MDB), the only opposition party allowed to run up to 1980.

Three decades since the military returned to their barracks, he thinks the country still has a less than perfect democracy and sees the difficulties that President Dilma Rousseff goes through to be understood by Congress as a reflection of the problems faced by Jango (Goulart) in his time.

Folha - How did you see the political environment of the country in the days before the coup of 1964?
Fernando Henrique Cardoso - There was a conviction that there would be a coup, but opinions were divided. A coup against whom? I remember a meeting with USP professors a few days later. Most thought that the coup would come on the side of Jango [the country's president at the time].

Why was there so much suspicion about the intentions of the President, and not just about the plans of rights?
The government was losing control of the situation. When Jango spoke about reforms, there were more words than deeds. But he frightened land owners and the more traditional middle class when he promised agrarian reform and urban reform. It was all very vague and no one knew what would come next. We were in the Cold War, and the tendency was to be radicalized. Or you were for this or that. Jango was never a communist, but there was a belief on the other side of those who were opposed to communism, that there would indeed be a coup from his side.

For many scholars of the period, there wasn't an appreciation for the rules of the democratic game on either side. Jango's allies also thought that Congress did not work and pressed to make reforms without listening. Did this stir up tempers?
It weighed heavily. This came from (former president) Jânio Quadros. He had everything in hand, he was elected by the people, and had a Congress with which he could negotiate. But he wanted to impose presidential authority over Congress and failed. With his resignation and Jango's inauguration came parliamentarianism. But the new regime had no popular legitimacy or effectiveness to govern. Jango managed to regain strength with the referendum that restored the presidential system, but he couldn't take control of the decision-making system in Congress. It's one of the problems of our democracy.

Can you elaborate?
In democratic systems, the Congress weighs heavy. You may like them or not, but they have weight. And what you have to do if your a democrat is try to get Congress to make decisions for the national interest. To this end, the healthier mechanism is to convince public opinion of its reasons.

Is this being talked about today?
[President] Dilma has to ask for more from Congress because the political situation requires it, but she still hasn't struck a way of dealing with it. What I mean is that our democracy is taking root, but we are still looking for a more efficient way. Nobody wants a coup in Brazil today, but no one knows how to satisfy demands that appear suddenly, with these slow, often disconnected mechanisms, which are the President's office and Congress.

Why was the dictatorship so popular at times?
There was a lot of support from the business community as well. Even though they didn't agree with violence, they supported it. The military modernized the economy, and this benefited them in the 1970s. It was a natural enthusiasm. When General [Emílio Garrastazu] Médici was in the presidency, perhaps the hardest time of the repression, he was popular. The Arena [the Party that supported military governments in Congress] won everywhere. The people were not concerned with politics and wanted to know about their well-being.

Why had the armed struggle against the regime failed?
Leftist organizations that became guerrillas were weak and divided. In addition, the reality was to go to one side and dream on the other. And the repression thought it was facing a very strong enemy, and used the most reprehensible and cruel instruments against him. An inconceivable thing. That was nothing, and the full force of the state apparatus was mobilized.

Millions took to the streets asking for direct elections for president in 1984, but the idea did not work in Congress. For what purpose had it served?
Although he had not gotten results at that time, the campaign for direct elections was important to change the perception of things, the feeling of the country and the government itself. Everyone realized that they could no longer maintain the situation that way. The campaign boosted the confidence of the opposition, and made the government aware that it could no longer continue. Take a look at the protests from June last year. Nothing came of it, apparently. But it always gives something. I saw it in France in May of 1968. Apparently nothing came of it, but much has changed.

Translated by STEVE HUGHES

Read the article in the original language

Marlene Bergamo/Folhapress
Former president Fernando Henrique Cardoso thinks the country still has a less than perfect democracy
Former president Fernando Henrique Cardoso thinks the country still has a less than perfect democracy

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