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The Brazilian military dictatorship, inaugurated by the April 1964 coup, governed under the banner of “order” and anti-communism but relied on brutal repression and a technocratic developmental model. On March 31–April 1, 1964, army officers deposed President João Goulart – a left‐leaning reformist – after a bloodless revolt by junior officers and hostile governors in Minas Gerais, São Paulo and elsewhere . Congress promptly declared Goulart’s seat “vacant” and selected Army General Humberto Castelo Branco as president . Far from returning to democracy as many expected, the coup leaders institutionalized an authoritarian regime. Early Institutional Acts (AIs) stripped civil liberties:…