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15 January 1985Reputable source · 2 sourcesWell documented

Brazil Returns to Civilian Rule

An electoral college ends 21 years of military government in 1985

On the timeline · around 15 January 1985 · Modern BrazilModern BrazilBrazil Returns to Civilian Rule196019701980199020002010

Quick facts

Date
January 15, 1985
Elected
Tancredo Neves (died before inauguration)
Became president
Jose Sarney
New constitution
1988

What happened

The dictatorship ended gradually through a controlled opening the generals called abertura. On January 15, 1985, the Library of Congress country study records, the electoral college elected Tancredo Neves of Minas Gerais, a civilian opposition leader, as president, ending 21 years of military rule. Neves collapsed the night before his inauguration and died weeks later, and the presidency passed to Vice President Jose Sarney. A new democratic constitution followed in 1988, restoring direct elections, civil liberties, and the political rights the dictatorship had suspended.

Why it matters

The 1985 transition returned Brazil to civilian government and led directly to the 1988 constitution that still governs the country, ending the longest authoritarian period since Vargas. That the handover came through an indirect electoral college rather than a popular vote, and that the amnesty protecting the regime's torturers stayed in place, shaped the compromises of Brazil's new democracy.

How we know

The January 15, 1985 election of Tancredo Neves, his collapse before inauguration, and the succession of Jose Sarney are documented verbatim in the Library of Congress country study.

Sources

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Part of a timelineHistory of Brazil24 events · A land of hundreds of nations before 1500, the destination of nearly half of all enslaved Africans brought to the Americas, and the only monarchy the New World's republics ever toleratedView all →
Brazil Returns to Civilian Rule · History of Brazil · SourcedStory