CIA activities in Brazil

1964

With increasing warning of the impending coup against the democratically-elected President João Goulart, US President Lyndon Baines Johnson, according to an audio tape, directed taking "every step that we can" to support the overthrow of Goulart, who followed an independent foreign policy: he had been opposed both to the Bay of Pigs Invasion and the Cuban actions in the Cuban Missile Crisis.

The US ambassador, Lincoln Gordon, in consultations with the President, asked for covert preparation to assist the coup plotters, who installed a military dictatorship. ^[1] Gordon's cables "also confirm CIA covert measures "to help strengthen resistance forces" in Brazil. These included "covert support for pro-democracy street rallies…and encouragement [of] democratic and anti-communist sentiment in Congress, armed forces, friendly labor and student groups, church, and business." Four days before the coup, Gordon informed Washington that "we may be requesting modest supplementary funds for other covert action programs in the near future." He also requested that the U.S. send tankers carrying "POL"-petroleum, oil and lubricants-to facilitate the logistical operations of the military coup plotters, and deploy a naval task force to intimidate Goulart's backers and be in position to intervene militarily if fighting became protracted."

Intelligence collection

Prior to the 1964 Brazilian coup d'état coup, an information cable from the São Paulo CIA station ^[2] the coup would be launched within the week; the coup started the following night.

Overt and Covert Action

ITT owned the phone company of Brazil; Washington was afraid Goulart would nationalize it. ITT's president, Harold Geneen, was friends with the Director of Central Intelligence, John McCone. The CIA performed psyops against Goulart, performed character assassination, pumped money into opposition groups, and enlisted the help of the Agency for International Development and the AFL-CIO. The 1964 Brazilian coup d'état exiled Goulart and the military dictatorship of Humberto de Alencar Castelo Branco took over. McCone went to work for ITT a few years later. The dictatorship lasted until 1985. ^[3]

A naval task force was sent but not needed, and the CIA covert action resources were not used.

References

1. Kornbluh, Peter (ed.), Brazil marks 40th Anniversary of Military Coup; Declassified Documents Shed Light on US Role, George Washington University National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book No. 118
2. Sao Paulo Station, Central Intelligence Agency (30 March 1964), Plans of Revolutionary Plotters in Minas Gerais (PDF)
3. Burn Before Reading, Admiral Stansfield Turner, 2005, Hyperion, pg. 99. Also see the article on Humberto de Alencar Castelo Branco. Also see BRAZIL MARKS 40th ANNIVERSARY OF MILITARY COUP, National Security Archive, George Washington University. Edited by Peter Kornbluh, 2004.