We Cannot Remain Silent

Opposition to the Brazilian Military Dictatorship in the United States

James N. Green, Daniel J. Walkowitz

• Publisher: Duke University Press Books
• Year: 2010
• Print ISBN: 9780822347354, 9780822347170
• eBook ISBN: 9780822391784
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Latin American & Caribbean History
• Index: History

In 1964, Brazil's democratically elected, left-wing government was ousted in a coup and replaced by a military junta. The Johnson administration quickly recognized the new government. The U.S. press and members of Congress were nearly unanimous in their support of the "revolution" and the coup leaders' anticommunist agenda. Few Americans were aware of the human rights abuses perpetrated by Brazil's new regime. By 1969, a small group of academics, clergy, Brazilian exiles, and political activists had begun to educate the American public about the violent repression in Brazil and mobilize opposition to the dictatorship. By 1974, most informed political activists in the United States associated the Brazilian government with its torture chambers. In We Cannot Remain Silent, James N. Green analyzes the U.S. grassroots activities against torture in Brazil, and the ways those efforts helped to create a new discourse about human-rights violations in Latin America. He explains how the campaign against Brazil's dictatorship laid the groundwork for subsequent U.S. movements against human rights abuses in Chile, Uruguay, Argentina, and Central America.

Green interviewed many of the activists who educated journalists, government officials, and the public about the abuses taking place under the Brazilian dictatorship. Drawing on those interviews and archival research from Brazil and the United States, he describes the creation of a network of activists with international connections, the documentation of systematic torture and repression, and the cultivation of Congressional allies and the press. Those efforts helped to expose the terror of the dictatorship and undermine U.S. support for the regime. Against the background of the political and social changes of the 1960s and 1970s, Green tells the story of a decentralized, international grassroots movement that effectively challenged U.S. foreign policy.

Table of contents

• Contents
• About the Series
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction: Tropical Delights and Torture Chambers, or Imagining Brazil in the United States
• Prólogo: “Era um país subdesenvolvido”
• 1. Revolution and Counterrevolution in Brazil
• Capítulo I “A gente quer ter voz ativa”
• 2. The Birth of a Movement
• Capítulo II: “Caminhando e cantando e seguindo a canção”
• 3. The World Turned Upside Down
• Capítulo III: “Agora falando sério”
• 4. Defending Artistic and Academic Freedom
• Capítulo IV: “Acorda amor"
• 5. The Campaign against Torture
• Capítulo V: “Vai meu irmão”
• 6. Latin Americanists Take a Stand
• Capítulo VI: “Pode me prender, pode me bater”
• 7. Human Rights and the Organization of American States
• Capítulo VII: “Fado tropical”
• 8. Congressional Questioning
• Capítulo VIII: “While my eyes go looking for flying saucers in the sky”
• 9. Denouncing the Dictatorship
• Capítulo IX: “Navegar é preciso”
• 10. Performing Opposition
• Capítulo X: “Quem é essa mulher?”
• 11. The Slow- Motion Return to Democracy
• Capítulo XI: “Amanhã há de ser outro dia”
• Conclusions
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index