Speakers: James Green, Carlos Manuel de Cespedes Professor of Modern Latin American History and Portuguese and Brazilian Studies; Director of the Brazil Initiative, Brown University; Rodrigo Patto Sá Motta, Full Professor of Brazilian History, Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG); Ana Flávia Magalhães Pinto, Adjunct Professor, University of Brasilia (UnB)
Moderated by: Sidney Chalhoub, David and Peggy Rockefeller Professor of History and of African and African American Studies; Faculty Affiliate, Department of Romance Languages and Literatures
In 1964, a military coup d’Etat, supported by sectors of civil society, inaugurated two decades of dictatorship in Brazil. In 2022, a right-wing government works to undermine democratic institutions and find justification for another period of authoritarianism. There is much in common in the political rhetoric used to attack democracy in both periods: antidemocratic forces speak of political corruption, an alleged communist threat, the need to defend religious and moral values, etc. But the two historical moments are also in sharp contrast to each other. The purpose of this panel is to explore similarities and differences between 1964 and 2022 while history unfolds and we witness whether Brazilian democracy will be able to avert –this time—a new moment of peril.
Presented in collaboration with The Future of Diplomacy Project at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation, Harvard Kennedy School.
