1964 in Brazil

With the 1964 Brazilian coup d'état, on April 2 the National Congress of Brazil declared the presidency of the Republic occupied by João Goulart vacant. Since the vacancy was foreseen for the president's departure from the country without the authorization of Congress, which was not the case, the act had no constitutional support. However, it formalized the coup, transferring the position to the president of the Chamber of Deputies, Ranieri Mazzilli, until the indirect election of General Castelo Branco, the first military president of the dictatorship (1964-1985), days later.

The meeting at the Automóvel Clube was a solemnity of sergeants of the Military Police and Armed Forces of Brazil, on March 30, 1964, in Rio de Janeiro, at which President João Goulart gave a speech. Taking place amid the repercussions of the 1964 Sailors' Revolt, it was one of the immediate factors in the coup d'état that began the following day.

The Comício da Central, or Reforms Rally, was a rally held on March 13, 1964, in the city of Rio de Janeiro, at Praça da República, located in front of the Central do Brasil station. With about 200,000 people (or 150,000 people) there they gathered to hear the words of the President of Brazil, João Goulart, and of the former governor of Rio Grande do Sul, Leonel Brizola. The General Workers Command [pt], organizer of the rally, had been willing to take 100,000 people. The João Goulart Institute has documents showing that there were plans for a bombing of the rally, which was abandoned so as "not to create a martyr". At the time, there were reports of a sniper and rumors that communists would carry out the attack and blame the military. Goulart did not wish to go to the rally due to a heart condition, and to his wife, Maria Thereza Goulart, he said: "Teca, I'm going to fulfill my duty, even if it's the last one".

The Sailors' Revolt was a conflict between Brazilian Navy authorities and the Association of Sailors and Marines of Brazil (AMFNB) from 25 to 27 March 1964, in Rio de Janeiro. AMFNB members, a welfare and trade union organization, were not armed and revolted to demand changes in the navy, counting on the mutual support of left-wing movements. The navy besieged them at the Metalworkers' Union, and the crisis spread to the Navy Arsenal and ships. Its outcome, negotiated by president João Goulart's government, outraged the perpetrators of the 1964 Brazilian coup d'état, just a few days later, and was thus one of its immediate antecedents.

Indirect presidential elections were held in Brazil on 11 April 1964 shortly after the 1964 coup carried out by the Brazilian military. Humberto de Alencar Castelo Branco was elected president by the National Congress, receiving 361 of the 366 votes cast. José Maria Alkmin was elected vice-president unopposed after Auro de Moura Andrade withdrew his candidacy.

The 1964 Brazilian coup d'état (Portuguese: Golpe de estado no Brasil em 1964) was the overthrow of Brazilian president João Goulart by a military coup from March 31 to April 1, 1964, ending the Fourth Brazilian Republic (1946–1964) and initiating the Brazilian military dictatorship (1964–1985). The coup took the form of a military rebellion, the declaration of vacancy in the presidency by the National Congress on April 2, the formation of a military junta (the Supreme Command of the Revolution) and the exile of the president on April 4. In his place, Ranieri Mazzilli, the president of the Chamber of Deputies, took over until the election by Congress of general Humberto de Alencar Castelo Branco, one of the main leaders of the coup.