The Ministry of Rights Humans and Citizenship allocated R$200,000 to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the 1964 military coup, before President Lula banned official acts related to the date. The resources from the folder were transferred to the University of Brasília, UnB, through a Decentralized Execution Term.
The agreement, signed between the Ministry of Human Rights and UnB, provided for the carrying out of a series of actions, culminating in a ceremony at the Museum of the Republic, in Brasília, on the night of April 1, 2024. However, the veto of the President Lula to official events related to the military coup led to the cancellation of the ceremony.
In March, Lula justified his decision by stating that the military coup “is part of the past” and he wants to “move the country forward”. The statement provoked much criticism, including within the Workers’ Party.
UnB would hold an exhibition on the 60th anniversary of the military coup. The action is part of the extension project “Memory and Military Dictatorship in DF Public Schools”. In 2023, the university had already hosted an exhibition on the topic within the project.
This year, the exhibition would be launched precisely at the event in which the ministry would mark the anniversary at the Museum of the Republic. According to the document, the government allocated R$65,000 for the ceremony.
When justifying the agreement, the government and UnB highlighted the importance of clarifying what happened during the dictatorship, as a way of guaranteeing the right to memory and human rights. The project would also mark places where episodes of repression and resistance to the dictatorship occurred with image projection.
Project coordinator at UnB, professor Mateus Gamba Torres, from the History department, argued in the document that building a memory policy makes it possible to overcome the authoritarian past and establish democracy in the present and future. The government was represented in the agreement by Nilmário Miranda, special advisor for the Defense of Democracy, Memory and Truth at the MDH.
In a video published by the ministry in February, Miranda stated that one of the milestones of his work in the government would be the activities on the 60th anniversary of the coup. He planned to “clarify the new generations, above all” that “there was no democratic revolution, but rather a 21-year dictatorship that set the country back” and “deepened inequalities”.
“It’s the year to tell the truth about the 60th anniversary of the military coup,” he said.
The whole plan was buried. A report by Folha de S.Paulo showed that the Ministry of Human Rights was planning a public apology to the victims of the Military Dictatorship. The action even had a slogan: “60 years of the coup 1964-2024 – without memory there is no future”, and the launch would be precisely at the Museum of the Republic event.
In March, President Lula also gave up on the creation of the Museum of Memory and Human Rights, which had already been announced by former minister Flávio Dino.
Demonstrations rejecting the coup were restricted to social media. “Dictatorship Never Again! Hope and courage defeated hatred, intolerance and authoritarianism. Defending democracy is a challenge that is renewed every day”, published Paulo Pimenta, chief minister of the Communication Secretariat.
“Why dictatorship never again?” asked minister Silvio Almeida in a text on X. “Because we want a sovereign country, which does not bow to interests opposed to those of the Brazilian people. Because we want an institutionally and culturally democratic country. Because we want a country in which truth and justice prevail over lies and violence”, he wrote, evoking “hatred and disgust” against the dictatorship.
There was no statement about the canceled plans. The report contacted the Ministry of Human Rights and the University of Brasília for additional clarification – including on the destination of the funds –, but there was no response until the publication of this text.
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