Abstract
The role of theUSin the 1964 coup inBrazil is controversial. When didUSpolicymakers decide to support the coup conspirators, and why? This article reviews some recent works on the 1964 coup and makes two arguments. First, recently declassified documents show that theUSjoined the coup conspiracy only in 1963 not, as some claim, in 1961 or 1962. Second, many scholars do not explain the actions ofUSpolicymakers, or see their decisions as the inevitable consequence ofUSimperialism. This article argues that shifts inUSdomestic politics during theCold War, as well as the pattern of post‐war foreign policy inLatin America, help explainUSsupport for the coup.
Highlights
The role of the US in the 1964 coup in Brazil is controversial
This article argues that shifts in US domestic politics during the Cold War, as well as the pattern of post-war foreign policy in Latin America, help explain US support for the coup
The second and third sections of the article will examine the domestic politics of the United States prior to 1964, and how changes of the late 1940s, 1950s and early 1960s produced an environment in which official US support for a military coup in Brazil became more probable
Summary
The US Federal government at the time of the 1964 military coup in Brazil was controlled by the Democratic Party and led by the Democratic President Lyndon B. They were staunch defenders of racial segregation in the South and militarism in foreign policy (Katznelson, 2014). Because they came from states that were completely dominated by the Democratic Party, and were de facto one-party states, these Southern representatives stayed in Congress a long time. They were able to use the seniority system to gain control of some of the most important House and Senate committees. A national security state, high defence spending, militarisation and social conformism were characteristics of the United States in this period
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