A brief analysis on the Political Action of Letras em Marcha against the redemocratization process (1977–1985)

Abstract

This study aims to provide a brief analysis of the political actions undertaken by the pressure group Letras em Marcha — as documented in articles and reports published in its periodical—against the redemocratization process between 1977 and 1985. The analysis employs an instrumental-dialectical methodological approach, examining how the military establishment both influences itself and is influenced by the society in which it is embedded. This methodology engages with Décio Saes’s concept of internal disputes within the "Power Bloc", wherein factions of the victorious group vie for hegemonic leadership of the new political order, as well as with the concept of military pressure groups found in the work of Eduardo Heleno. The central premise of this analysis is that specific military factions expressed dissatisfaction with the direction the redemocratization process was taking. Consequently, the periodical—acting through mechanisms of hegemony—mobilized political actions designed both to pressure and influence the redemocratization process and to field its own candidates in elections, with the aim of legitimizing and preserving the military dictatorship. Ultimately, however, the outcome was unsuccessful. With few exceptions—such as the 1984 Military Club election—the vast majority of these initiatives failed; notable examples include the stance on the Amnesty Law, the campaign against the PMDB and Leonel Brizola (PDT) during the 1982 elections, and the attacks on Tancredo Neves’s (PMDB) candidacy for the 1985 indirect presidential election.