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Brazil

THE BRAZILIAN RIGHT is characterized by its opposition to democratic initiatives that represent a threat to traditional institutions, such as the agrarian elite, the church, the judiciary, and the military. Analysts have tried to trace the metamorphoses of the Brazilian right, but the main characteristic of the right is its authoritarian character, masked by an ideology of conciliation that is proper to Brazilian political culture.

The Brazilian right has its origins in the colonial institutions that were installed upon Portuguese colonization in 1500. The Portuguese monarchy never developed a strong army, but ruled through ideological tools. Different from the Spanish, the Portuguese did not create institutions for a middle class or intelligentsia. Education was centralized at the University of Coimbra, which trained bureaucrats to serve the Portuguese colonies. Brazilian colonial society was made up of powerful landlords (senhores do engenho), priests, lawyers, small landowners, poor workers, slaves, and natives. Despite the complexity of this society, it had a simple structure marked economically by landlords and the working masses, and politically by the monarchic bureaucracy, the church, and the juridical institutions.

In his book A Ideologia do Colonialismo, Nelson Werneck Sodré shows how the church and bureaucrats implemented a culture of colonial power and internalized submission. The judiciary was responsible for administrating the colony, and as Thomas Flory affirms, the Portuguese sent lawyers rather than military troops to enforce royal decisions. Through negotiations, a system of economic authority, tutelage, and personalismo was created. Thus, the right inherited the legacy of colonialism based on feudal authoritarianism that did not allow for democratic initiatives.

Conservatism and the Monarchy

Between 1644 and 1817 there were several rebellions against Portuguese rule, such as the Quilombo dos Palmares (1644–94), the War of the Barbarians (1683–1710), and the Inconfidência Mineira (1789). However, in 1822, Brazil declared its independence, and then became the only monarchy in the Americas. After independence, there were other revolts. The government received the support of conservative political groups that opposed these initiatives and proposed alternatives to a democratic regime, such as eclecticism, regressivism, a “transition process,” and centrism. As a result, the ideology of conciliation became characteristic of Brazilian politics. But even this conciliatory proposal was an illusion, since through it the right has been able to maintain its hold on Brazilian politics.

Romantic conservatism was the expression for this political ideology in the 19th century. It criticized modernity, avoided revolution, and opposed the rationality of science and intellectual initiatives. Important conservatives were Gonçalves de Magalhães, José de Alencar, and Álvares de Azevedo. Alencar criticized the importation of foreign ideas—including liberal democracy and abolition. In order to diminish the African threat and negate the white colonizer, Alencar turned to a romanticized version of the “Indian” and the syncretic “Mestizo” as the ideal Brazilian identity. Therefore, the conservative ideology of syncretism represented an aesthetic complement to the political ideology of conciliation. Both brought the ideology of colonialism to newer standards, were incorporated by the masses, and became fundamental for the right.

Positivism, Integralism, and Estado NOVO

Abolition in 1888 was a condition for establishing a republic in 1889 without a civil war. This change occurred through a coup promoted by the military bourgeoisie, and led by the positivism of the military academy. Although the situation of the poor did not change, the middle class emerged, which favored science and questioned traditional power. A series of movements during the 1920s was initiated within the military, including the most important popular communist movement led by Captain Luiz Carlos Prestes from 1924 to 1929.

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