1964 Sailors' Revolt

1964 Sailors' Revolt
Part of the Fourth Brazilian Republic
Marines join the rebelled sailors
Date 25–27 March 1964 (1964-03-25 – 1964-03-27) Location Guanabara, Brazil Result End of mutiny Amnesty for participants Change in the Minister of the Navy
Belligerents
Brazilian Navy Brazilian Army	AMFNB
Commanders and leaders
Silvio Mota Luiz Phelippe Sinay	José Anselmo dos Santos
Units involved
Marine Corps Police Company Riachuelo Battalion 1st Army Police Battalion Mechanized Reconnaissance Regiment	Rebelled sailors
Casualties and losses
	0-1 dead and 3-4 injured in the Navy Arsenal

The Sailors' Revolt was a conflict between Brazilian Navy authorities and the Association of Sailors and Marines of Brazil (AMFNB) from 25 to 27 March 1964, in Rio de Janeiro. AMFNB members, a welfare and trade union organization, were not armed and revolted to demand changes in the navy, counting on the mutual support of left-wing movements. The navy besieged them at the Metalworkers' Union, and the crisis spread to the Navy Arsenal and ships. Its outcome, negotiated by president João Goulart's government, outraged the perpetrators of the 1964 Brazilian coup d'état, just a few days later, and was thus one of its immediate antecedents.

The AMFNB was part of the soldiers' movements [pt] in Brazil's Armed Forces (low military ranks) in the early 1960s, also responsible for the 1963 sergeants' revolt [pt], in which many of its members participated. It was a class association for a poor sector, with hard working conditions, deprived of rights such as voting and marriage, and marked by social inequality in relation to the officers. Founded in 1962, its president in 1964 was the sailor José Anselmo dos Santos, known as "Corporal Anselmo".^[a] In those two years it acquired thousands of members and a more combative leadership, coming closer to president Goulart and leftist organizations, as well as becoming interested in issues outside the navy, such as the base reforms [pt]. Officers were afraid of their possible indiscipline, and their politicization was not tolerated, unlike the political activities of the officialdom.

The association's second anniversary, on the 25th, was celebrated at the Metalworkers Union. Upon receiving news of the arrest of its directors for statements made on the 20th, those present at the celebration decided to remain in an assembly until a series of demands was fullfiled. The Minister of the Navy, Silvio Mota [pt], decreed strict readiness, which required the sailors' presence in their units, but they disobeyed. This disobedience did not constitute an armed movement. On the 26th, the minister decided to invade the union with marines reinforced by the army. The Marine Corps commander, admiral Cândido Aragão [pt], was dismissed from office due to his refusal to attack. Subsequently, the first attempt failed as some marines joined the rebels, while the second attempt was cancelled to allow the president to negotiate. There were clashes and sabotage on ships, and sailors were shot at in the Navy Arsenal. The left was generally in favor of the rebels, while the officialdom was against them. Goulart ended the confrontation by giving amnesty to the sailors and appointing Paulo Mário da Cunha Rodrigues [pt] to the Ministry of the Navy. Together with his attendance on the 30th at the meeting at the Automóvel Club, his decision was harshly criticized by the opposition and seen by officers as connivance with the breakdown of military discipline, thus strengthening the support base for the military coup that overthrew him at the end of the month.

The revolt is related to the 1910 Revolt of the Lash, as was already felt at the time. After the coup, those involved were expelled or retired from the navy and prosecuted in the Military Court. A politicized nucleus, led by former directors, joined the guerrilla organizations against the military dictatorship, but without losing the cohesion of the AMFNB times. "Corporal Anselmo" collaborated with repression bodies during the period, raising the accusation that the revolt in 1964 was the work of agent provocateurs working for the coup plotters; this is disputed by more recent historians. After the Amnesty Law of 1979, former sailors and marines fought for years in court and in Congress to obtain compensation and reinstatement to the paid reserve with promotions, organizing themselves into the National Mobilization Unit for Amnesty (UMNA). Demands from the AMFNB, such as the right to vote and marriage, ended up being met later, and the status of low-ranking officers changed.
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