U.S. lawmakers call for release of more Brazil dictatorship files

"Without memory, there is no future," says a poster in São Paulo city center. Photo: Ronny Santos/Folhapress

A group of Democratic U.S. lawmakers on Thursday sent a public letter to President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken calling for the declassification of 13 documents related to the beginning of Brazil’s 1964-1985 dictatorship.

The letter was sent days after the 60th anniversary of the March 31, 1964 coup led by Army General Castello Branco and supported by the Lyndon B. Johnson administration.

“The declassification of documents related to the Brazilian dictatorship period will not only enrich historical knowledge but also fortify the United States’ commitment to democratic values and human rights,” the letter says.

“We believe that declassifying these documents will demonstrate our dedication to transparency,” the lawmakers added. “By doing so, we can contribute to healing historical wounds and ensuring that the lessons of the past guide our efforts toward a shared future founded on democracy and human rights.”

All of the requested documents were produced in late March and early April 1964, at the beginning of the coup.

In 2014, during the FIFA World Cup, then-Vice President Biden visited Brazil and delivered a collection of 43 State Department documents from 1967 to 1977 to then-President Dilma Rousseff.

One cable from 1973 reports that the Brazilian military regime used a “sophisticated and elaborate psychophysical duress system” to “intimidate and terrify” suspected leftist militants. The document is incontrovertible evidence that the U.S. government was aware of the widespread practice of torture by the Brazilian regime.

The documents were soon made public by Brazil’s federal truth commission. The Obama administration later declassified two other batches of documents related to the period. However, according to professor Jim Green, who has campaigned for their declassification, the U.S. government still holds around “a thousand” classified documents related to the 1964 coup and the dictatorship.