Brasília, March 31, 2004 (Agência Brasil) - To recall the 40th anniversary of the 1964 revolution, innumerous parallel activities occurred this week in various regions of Brazil. In Brasília, today, retired members of the Armed Forces and civilians, members of the non-governmental organization, Terrorism, Never Again (Ternuma), gathered in front of the National Congress to pay tribute to those who died as a result of actions that were part of the armed struggle between 1966 and 1975.

According to the organization's spokesman, Professor Eduardo Bohrer, the homage brings to mind victims who have been forgotten in Brazil. The demonstration also served to ask for compensation for the families of victims whose deaths were caused by terrorist acts practiced during that period.

In Recife, in the Northeast of Brazil, the first cycle of debates in the seminar "The '64 Coup - 40 Years After," got underway, bringing together researchers, economists, journalists, politicians, students, historians, and ex-governors who were political exiles. At the opening of the event, Argelina Figueiredo, a political scientist from the University of Campinas, said in her speech that "the military coup that deposed President João Goulart on March 31, 1964, and installed a period of military dictatorship in the country, represented a regression for the reforms that Brazil needed to implement."

She pointed out that a poll by the Ibope (Brazilian Institute of Public Opinion and Statistics) at the time revealed that 75% of the Brazilian population identified with some political party, the majority anti-communist, but favorable to reforms to correct social inequalities.

In Rio de Janeiro, the 40th anniversary of the '64 military coup was marked by a solemn session of the Legislative Assembly. The session, designated "Dictatorship, Never Again," honored personalities and entities that stood out in the resistance to the dictatorship.

The solemn session was the result of an initiative by the state deputy elected from the PT, Heloneida Studart. She said that the objective is to remember the restrictions on freedom imposed by the military coup on the deputies and other sectors of Brazilian society. Studart also reaffirmed the importance of maintaining democracy and avoiding the repetition of human rights violations in the country.

Translator: David Silberstein