Diretas Já

Diretas Já (Portuguese pronunciation: [dʒiˈɾɛtɐz ˈʒa], Direct (Elections) Now) was a 1984 civil movement which demanded direct presidential elections in Brazil.

Diretas Já
Diretas Já demonstration in São Paulo on April 16, 1984.
DateMarch 1983 – April 1984
LocationMajor cities throughout Brazil
ParticipantsTancredo Neves, Leonel Brizola, Miguel Arraes, Ulysses Guimarães, André Franco Montoro, Dante de Oliveira, Mário Covas, Gérson Camata, Iris Rezende, Orestes Quércia, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Eduardo Suplicy, Roberto Freire, Fernando Henrique Cardoso among others.
OutcomeIndirect election of Tancredo Neves and approval of a Constituent Assembly

Participants of the movement

The movement brought together diverse elements of Brazilian society. Participants came from a broad spectrum of political parties, trade unions, civil, student and journalistic leaderships. Politicians involved included Ulysses Guimarães, Tancredo Neves, André Franco Montoro, Fernando Henrique Cardoso, Mário Covas, Teotônio Vilela, Dante de Oliveira, José Serra, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Eduardo Suplicy and Leonel Brizola among others. Besides politicians, the movement also included artists such as Milton Nascimento, Fernanda Montenegro, Gilberto Gil, Bruna Lombardi, Fafá de Belém, and Chico Buarque de Holanda. Journalists such as Henfil, Osmar Santos and Eliel Ramos Maurício covered the assemblies for periodicals Diário de Sorocaba and Folha de Itapetininga. Football team Corinthians, already well known for activism with their Corinthians Democracy movement, printed "Diretas Já" on the back of their jerseys. Sectors of the Roman Catholic Church, as well as other religions, also supported the movement.[1]

Location of the first public protest

The first public protest for the Diretas occurred in the emancipated town of Abreu e Lima, in Pernambuco, on March 31, 1983. Periodicals of the state of Pernambuco, at the time, organized members of the PMDB party in the city, which were followed by protests in the capital of the state of Goiás, Goiânia, on June 15, 1983, as well as the Charles Miller Plaza, in front of Pacaembu Stadium, on November 27, 1983 in São Paulo.[2]

Economic situation

The growth of the movement coincided with the aggravation of an economic crisis (with an annual inflation of 239% in 1983). This led to the mobilization of class entities and unions. The movement linked representatives from diverse political backgrounds under the common cause of direct elections for president. Many pro-status quo politicians, sensitive to their base, had also formed a block of disagreement within "ARENA", the pro-government party, when PDS was founded.

In the following year, the movement gained critical mass and was able to mobilize itself openly. On the anniversary of the city of São Paulo (January 25), the first great assembly of the campaign for direct elections for president was made possible by André Franco Montoro, then-governor of São Paulo, on Praça da Sé, a major public square adjacent to the São Paulo Cathedral (Catedral da Sé).

By this time the Military Regime had lost a great deal of prestige with the majority of the population. Low ranking members of the military, with their wages diminished due to inflation, started to voice their discontent to their superiors.

On April 16, shortly before the vote in Congress which would enable direct elections for president, a final demonstration took place in São Paulo. Afraid that the Praça da Sé would prove too small, the Anhangabaú Valley was chosen, where an estimated crowd of over 1.5 million people attended, in what was the largest political demonstration ever seen in Brazil.

During the month of April 1984, then-president Figueiredo increased the censorship on the press and promoted arrests and police violence. Nonetheless, the Diretas Já amendment (known as Dante de Oliveira law, after its author) was voted on April 25, 1984. Despite a vote of 298 in favor, with 65 against, 112 pro-government deputies abstained, leaving the Chamber without a quorum. As a result, the bill died.

Despite the bill's failure, the movement proved to be a catalyst for various opposition forces and a voice for popular discontent. The re-democratization process ended with the return of civil power in 1985 and the approval of a new constitution in 1988, which called for the first direct presidential elections in 1989. Brazil then elected Fernando Collor de Mello, its first democratically elected president since 1961.

Assemblies

This is a partial list in chronological order of the Diretas Já demonstrations:

Date Location Number of participants Notes
March 31, 1983 Abreu e Lima, Pernambuco — As the first public event of Diretas Já, the number of participants was not high.
June 15, 1983 Goiânia, Goiás 5,000 It took place on Praça do Bandeirante.
June 26, 1983 Teresina, Piauí — —
August 12, 1983 Pernambuco — It took place on several cities of the state.
November 27, 1983 São Paulo, São Paulo 15.000 On this date, Senator Teotônio Vilela died.
December 9, 1983 Ponta Grossa, Paraná 1.000 —
January 5, 1984 Olinda, Pernambuco — —
January 12, 1984 Curitiba, Paraná 40,000 This event counted with the participation of Juan Carlos Quintana, an alleged spokesman of Raúl Alfonsín. It was later discovered that he was an agent of the dictatorship infiltrated in order to give the impression that the movement began under international influence.
January 20, 1984 Salvador, Bahia 15,000 —
January 21, 1984 Vitória, Espírito Santo 10,000 —
Campinas, São Paulo 12,000 —
January 25, 1984 São Paulo, São Paulo 300,000 It took place on Praça da Sé.
January 26, 1984 João Pessoa, Paraíba 10,000 —
January 27, 1984 Olinda, Pernambuco 30,000 —
January 29, 1984 Maceió, Alagoas 20.000 It took place on Praia da Pajuçara.
February 16, 1984 Belém, Pará 60,000 —
Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 60,000 It was the first parade of the Diretas, going from Candelária to Cinelândia.
February 17, 1984 Recife, Pernambuco 12,000 A parade took place.
February 18, 1984 Manaus, Amazonas 6,000 —
February 19, 1984 Capão da Canoa, Rio Grande do Sul 50,000 A parade took place.
Osasco, São Paulo 25,000 —
Rio Branco, Acre 7,000 —
February 20, 1984 Cuiabá, Mato Grosso 15,000 —
February 24, 1984 Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais 300,000 —
February 26, 1984 São Paulo — Public events in 300 cities of the state.
Aracaju, Sergipe 30,000 —
February 29, 1984 Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais 30,000 —
March 8, 1984 Anápolis, Goiás 20,000 —
March 21, 1984 Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 200, 000 Another parade from Candelária to Cinelândia takes place.
March 22, 1984 Campinas, São Paulo 20,000 It was only a music concert, without any political speech.
March 23, 1984 Uberlândia, Minas Gerais 40,000 —
March 24, 1984 Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul 40,000 —
March 29, 1984 Florianópolis, Santa Catarina 20,000 It took place outside the same church where four years earlier the Novembrada, a confrontation between the military police and students, occurred.
April 2, 1984 Londrina, Paraná 50,000 —
April 6, 1984 Natal, Rio Grande do Norte 50,000 —
April 7, 1984 Petrolina, Pernambuco 30,000 —
April 10, 1984 Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro 1,000,000 It took place outside the Candelária Church.
April 12, 1984 Goiânia, Goiás 300,000 It took place on Praça do Bandeirante.
April 13, 1984 Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul 200,000 —
April 16, 1984 São Paulo, São Paulo 1,500,000 A parade from Praça da Sé to Vale do Anhangabaú succeeded the event. Up to that date, it was the largest public demonstration in the history of Brazil.

See also

References
  1. Paulo Markun [in Portuguese]. "Diretas Já - Comício do Anhangabaú, em 16/04/1984". Brado Retumbante. Drupal. Archived from the original on April 25, 2018.
  2. Kapa, Raphael (20 April 2014). "Diretas Já: Há 30 anos, milhões foram às ruas reivindicar o direito de votar" (in Brazilian Portuguese). O Globo. Retrieved 26 July 2023.
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