1923 federal intervention in Rio de Janeiro

Federal intervention in Rio de Janeiro was decreed by Brazilian president Artur Bernardes on 10 January 1923, installing the federal intervener Aurelino Leal at the head of the state's Executive branch. State president (governor) Raul Fernandes, sworn in on 31 December 1922 at the Ingá Palace, in Niterói, was being challenged by a parallel government led by Feliciano Sodré. Aurelino Leal called for new elections, in which the only candidate was Feliciano Sodré, who took over the government on 23 December 1923. During his administration, Leal dismantled the political machine of Nilo Peçanha's "Nilist" faction, the main force in Rio de Janeiro state politics in the previous two decades.

Peçanha had been an enemy of Bernardes since both ran in the turbulent 1922 presidential election. In June 1922, Sodré lost the state election to Nilist Raul Fernandes and the opposition deputies, prevented from entering the Legislative Assembly by the State Police Force, denounced the elections as irregular and organized a parallel assembly. The opposition did not control the public political machine nor the state's budget, but it counted on the strong arm of the federal government — the same one that Peçanha used against his opponents in Rio de Janeiro in 1910 and 1914. The possibility of a federal intervention hovered over Nilism for months, attracting attention in the press, against the backdrop of the state of emergency in force since the Copacabana Fort revolt.

Raul Fernandes took office as governor guaranteed by a habeas corpus from the Supreme Federal Court (STF), with security provided by the Brazilian Army. Once in power, Fernandes was boycotted by the federal government. Violence spread throughout the state's countryside, in which oppositionists and police officers from the Federal District removed mayors, city councillors and other authorities, installing municipal governments loyal to Feliciano Sodré. The army did nothing for the municipal authorities and prevented the Police Force from being sent to the countryside. Bernardes convinced STF president Hermínio Francisco do Espírito Santo that the habeas corpus had already been fulfilled. On 9 January, the Police Force rejected Raul Fernandes' authority.

The intervention decrees were justified based on the duality of state governments and the disorder in the countryside. The decrees diverged from the consolidated legal practice of federal intervention in Brazil until then, as they were enacted during parliamentary recess, without being requested by the state government, and investing the federal intervener with the same powers as the state president — including the appointment of public officials without connection to the Nilist machine. The measure transformed the state of Rio de Janeiro into an ally of the federal government, as well as the other dissident states in the 1922 election, Rio Grande do Sul and Bahia, which also faced crises resolved in favor of Artur Bernardes. Politicians and jurists supported the measure, despite criticism that it disrespected the STF's habeas corpus. In the long term, criticism prevailed that the crises in Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande do Sul and Bahia were engineered by Bernardes to take revenge on his opponents.

Nilo Peçanha's Rio de Janeiro


The state of Rio de Janeiro had its capital in Niterói and 48 municipalities in 1922. In turn, the city of Rio de Janeiro was not part of the state and was administered as the Federal District, but its proximity meant constant federal involvement in Rio de Janeiro state affairs. During the Second Reign, the "Old Province" of Rio became the country's main political force, but its coffee-based prosperity went into decline in the 1880s. Its economy and number of Congress members were still sufficient to rank it as a second-tier power in the First Brazilian Republic, inferior to São Paulo, Minas Gerais and Rio Grande do Sul. These states had cohesive dominant parties, unlike Rio de Janeiro's successive internal political struggles.

The dominant current in Rio de Janeiro politics, since the beginning of the 20th century, was Nilo Peçanha's "Nilism", already referred to as "the most important political force that emerged in the State of Rio during the First Republic". Peçanha, who became president of Brazil between 1909 and 1910, aimed to increase the national projection of his state. The Nilist political machine used typical instruments of coronelism, such as political persecution and electoral fraud, at the same time that Peçanha expressed an innovative discourse in national politics, appealing to the urban strata.

As President of Brazil, in 1910, there were dual Legislative Assemblies in Rio de Janeiro, one status quo and the other oppositionist. Peçanha requested federal intervention and militarily occupied the state to overthrow Alfredo Backer's dissent and install his candidate for president of the State (governor), Oliveira Botelho. In 1914, Peçanha personally ran against Feliciano Sodré and appealed to a habeas corpus from the Supreme Federal Court (STF) to take office. There was a new duality of assemblies and also a duality of state governments. The opposition requested federal intervention, but Peçanha triumphed with a military occupation ordered by president Venceslau Brás. Rio police officers invaded the homes of Peçanha's opponents in Niterói and destroyed newspapers in Campos. The following years were of internal stability and good relations with the federal government. The state president in 1922, Raul Veiga, was one of Peçanha's most faithful allies.

Presidential election of 1922


State representatives met in June 1921 to define the status quo candidate for president of Brazil in the 1922 election. Almost all states, especially São Paulo and Minas Gerais, ratified the name of Artur Bernardes. Only Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande do Sul, Bahia and Pernambuco did not send representatives to the convention. Instead, they formed the Republican Reaction bloc and launched the candidacies of Nilo Peçanha for president and J. J. Seabra, from Bahia, for vice president. Peçanha's opponents in Rio, Backer and Sodré, formed the Rio de Janeiro Opposition Committee to support Bernardes.

The elections for the Legislative Assembly and Municipal Chambers, on 18 December, were won by the Nilists and the opposition protested against the legitimacy of the counting board. The result of the dispute was linked to the national election, which was won by Bernardes in March 1922, after a fierce and hostile campaign. The Republican Reaction did not accept the results and tried to mobilize pressure from the masses and the military for arbitration of the electoral process. Military tempers flared on 5 July, in the Copacabana Fort revolt. The armed uprising was brief and the federal government promptly declared a state of emergency in the Federal District and the state of Rio de Janeiro, with favorable votes from Republican Reaction deputies. The revolt was not Peçanha's intention, but he contributed to the legal defense of the rebels in solidarity. Bernardes did not forgive him.

The state of emergency was suspended for 24 hours on 9 July for the elections for the state presidency and vice presidency and for municipal mayors. The future seemed threatened for Nilists. In the state election, status quo Raul Fernandes and Artur Leandro de Araújo Costa defeated the opposition ticket, Feliciano Sodré and Paulino de Sousa, and again the results were contested. In the municipalities, Nilism maintained control of most city governments, but lost the two most important ones, Niterói and Petrópolis. The opposition's political base was in the main urban centers, especially in the capital.

Dissident assembly


The state deputies elected in December 1921 would be sworn in by the Legislative Assembly on 17 July through a Powers Verification Commission appointed by the president of the previous legislature. This was the Nilist Artur Costa, who, as was customary in politics at the time, would only recognize Nilist candidates. Fearing riots, the state government deployed the Police Force around the assembly. Feliciano Sodré, Horácio de Magalhães and Manoel Duarte, at the head of the candidates' delegation, were physically prevented from climbing the stairs of the building.

The delegation went to the Niterói City Council session room, with the support of mayor Teixeira Leomil and allied councillors, and began legislative work on their own. Jornal do Commercio, from the Federal District, reported that a "huge popular mass" accompanied them. This was probably an exaggeration, as the newspaper was aligned with opponents of Nilism. The deputies filed a protest to federal judge Leon Roussolières, alleging the unconstitutionality of the electoral law applied in December 1921, and hence "the nullity of the inaugurations, and consequently, also the nullity of the laws, acts and resolutions by the gathering which, with the title of Legislative Assembly, result from the meeting of those inaugurated". But they did not request the annulment of the election of 31 December 1921 and considered themselves elected by that same election.

Two assemblies, one of Nilists, chaired by Artur Costa, and another of the opposition, chaired by Horácio Magalhães, now met sporadically. On the 28th the state of emergency was extended. The official gazette published only the laws produced by Artur Costa's assembly and sanctioned by president Raul Veiga, while Jornal do Commercio published the decisions of both assemblies. Artur Costa's assembly legislated on administration, almost ignoring the existence of the parallel one, while Horácio Magalhães' assembly produced few laws, mainly dealing with the territorial reorganization of the state. It needed to justify its existence and the budget and public machinery were beyond its control. There was no parallel investigative board to inaugurate these deputies, but only a complaint of illegality on the part of the established board.