Throughout the
First Brazilian Republic, the presidency was interchanged every election between politicians of the states of
Minas Gerais and
São Paulo, in a system called "
coffee and milk politics". These two states—the most economically advanced in the country—manipulated elections in their favor and effectively governed Brazil as an oligarchy.
Tenentes (English:
lieutenants) in the military opposed this system, but their attempted revolts throughout the 1920s were unsuccessful. The tradition was broken in 1929 when incumbent President
Washington Luís, of São Paulo, nominated
Júlio Prestes, another man from the same state, as his successor rather than exchanging the position with a politician from Minas Gerais. Luís saw Governor Antônio Carlos Ribeiro de Andrada, the obvious choice from Minas Gerais, as incompetent, favoring Prestes, the governor of São Paulo, who was praised in pro-government newspapers. Luís sought and received support from seventeen states (out of twenty) for Prestes's candidacy. However, his decision was decried by Minas Gerais,
Paraíba, and
Rio Grande do Sul. With the support of the
tenentes, they formed the Liberal Alliance and nominated
Getúlio Vargas, governor of Rio Grande do Sul, for president. The coalition advocated reform to education, hygiene, diet, housing, recreation, and working conditions. Their plans included agricultural schools, a national Labor Code, a minimum wage, and industrial training centers; many of their promises would be realized after Vargas took power in 1930. Prestes promised to continue Luís's economic policies, lower taxes, raise the salaries of government officials, update army equipment and defend industry. His platform was alike to that of the Liberal Alliance. (center) and his followers in
Itararé on the way to
Rio de Janeiro after the
Revolution of 1930 In March 1930, Prestes won the election against Vargas in an election marred by
electoral fraud from both sides, with Vargas reportedly having won Rio Grande do Sul 298,627 to 982 votes. On 26 July 1930, Vargas's running mate
João Pessoa was assassinated. Despite the assassination having been the result of both a romantic and local political ordeal, Pessoa's death was the catalyst that led the opposition to take up arms. Before this, Vargas had decided the opposition did not have the power to contest the election. The federal government received backlash for the assassination, widely perceived to be a political act, and in Congress, Rio Grande do Sul
Deputy Lindolfo Collor asked, "Mr. President, what have you done to the governor of Paraíba [Pessoa]?" Pessoa's uncle
Epitácio Pessoa proclaimed that his nephew's murder was "nourished by the systemic and criminal hostility of the federal government toward the governor of Paraíba." Pessoa became a martyr to the opposition and his death was exploited politically. The opposition now planned for an attack on the federal government. The
Revolution of 1930, as it was called, began in the states of the Liberal Alliance and then moved toward Rio de Janeiro from north, south, and west. Rio Grande do Sul was captured within 48 hours. Revolutionaries swiftly took control of the
Northeast under the command of
Juarez Távora. There was minor resistance to the revolution in Minas Gerais. In São Paulo, the
Democratic Party, who had supported Vargas, abstained from any revolutionary activity.
Prelude to a military coup On 19 October, the popular Cardinal
Sebastião Leme,
archbishop of Rio de Janeiro, arrived in the capital from Rome. Two days earlier, he was convinced that, in the interest of peace, he should procure Luís's resignation. When Leme proposed his resignation, the president replied, "What! Then Your Eminence doubts the loyalty of my generals!" Many generals believed the president's continued stubbornness was not helping the situation, and they feared a
civil war. General
Augusto Tasso Fragoso, former Army Chief of Staff, had told Collor that he may join the revolution if it became nationwide. Though Tasso Fragoso stated his opposition to the armed overthrow of constitutional authorities, he said he would "take the attitude which his patriotism indicated." However, Tasso Fragoso told General
João de Deus Mena Barreto, inspector of the 1st Group of Military Regions, that a rebellion in Rio seemed imminent after he attended mass for a soldier killed in Paraíba. Mena Barreto was being urged by his Chief of Staff Colonel
Bertoldo Klinger, on behalf of a group of young officers, to intervene to end the hostilities in a military coup favorable to revolutionaries. Concerned about the military hierarchy, Mena Barreto suggested Tasso Fragoso, the most senior officer, head the movement. When he refused, he asked Army Chief of Staff Alexandre Henrique Xavier Leal, who also refused. Finally, on the morning of 23 October, Mena Barreto and one of his sons, Paulo Emílio, convinced Tasso Fragoso to take charge. Mena Barreto also made contact with Admiral
Isaías de Noronha through his wife, a relative of Noronha, establishing a link with the
Navy. What was being proposed by the officers was a "pacification coup." Tasso Fragoso, Mena Barreto, and their associates convened on the night of 23 October at
Fort Copacabana to make plans for the ousting, having received assurance of support from the military police and the outlying barracks at
Vila Militar. == The junta ==