Milk coffee politics or ''café com leite'' politics () is a term that refers to the domination of

Brazilian politics The politics of Brazil take place in a framework of a federal presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the President is both head of state and head of government, and of a multi-party system. The political and administrative o ...

under the so-called Old Republic (1889–1930) by the landed gentries of

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for ' Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaW ...

(dominated by the

coffee industry Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world. Seeds of th ...

) and

Minas Gerais Minas Gerais () is a state in Southeastern Brazil. It ranks as the second most populous, the third by gross domestic product (GDP), and the fourth largest by area in the country. The state's capital and largest city, Belo Horizonte (literall ...

(dominated by the

dairy A dairy is a business enterprise established for the harvesting or processing (or both) of animal milk – mostly from cows or buffaloes, but also from goats, sheep, horses, or camels – for human consumption. A dairy is typically located on ...

industry), being represented by the

Paulista Republican Party The Paulista Republican Party ( pt, Partido Republicano Paulista, PRP), sometimes translated as the Republican Party of São Paulo, was a Brazilian political party founded on April 18, 1873 during the and sparked the first modern republican mov ...

(PRP) and the

Minas Republican Party The Minas Republican Party ( pt, Partido Republicano Mineiro, PRM) was a Brazilian political party founded on 4 June 1888 and active during the First Brazilian Republic. It represented the republican ideology of the agrarian elite of the state o ...

(PRM). The name alludes to the popular coffee beverage ''café com leite'', "

milk coffee Milk coffee is a category of coffee-based drinks made with milk. Johan Nieuhof, the Dutch ambassador to China, is credited as the first person to drink coffee with milk when he experimented with it around 1660. Varieties Antoccino An antoc ...

", referring to the states' respectively dominant industry.

History

Under Brazil's Old Republic, the patron-client political machines of the countryside enabled agrarian oligarchs, especially coffee planters in the state of São Paulo, to dominate state structures to their advantage, particularly the weak central state structures that effectively devolved power to local agrarian oligarchies. Under the Old Republic, the coffee with milk politics rested on the domination of the republic's politics by the states of São Paulo and Minas Gerais — the largest in terms of population and wealth. One can illustrate the extent of that domination by noting that the first presidents of the republic were from São Paulo and thereafter succeeded by an alternation between the outgoing governors of the two leading states in the presidency. The coffee with milk politics rested on an oligarchic system known as

coronelism Coronelism, from the term ''Coronelismo'' () was the Brazilian political machine during the Old Republic (1889–1930), also known as the "rule of the coronels", responsible for the centralization of the political power in the hands of a loca ...

. Known as the "rule of the

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge ...

s", this term referred to the classic

boss system In politics, a boss is a person who controls a faction or local branch of a political party. They do not necessarily hold public office themselves; most historical bosses did not, at least during the times of their greatest influence. Numerous off ...

under which the control of

patronage Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings, popes, and the wealthy have provided to artists su ...

was centralized in the hands of a locally dominant oligarch known as a "colonel", particularly under Brazil's Old Republic, who would dispense favors in return for loyalty. Meanwhile, other states resented this grip on the central state by São Paulo and Minas Gerais. The severe drought of 1877 in the Northeast and the ensuing economic collapse — along with the

abolition of slavery Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The British ...

in 1888 — propelled the mass labor migration of

emancipated Emancipation generally means to free a person from a previous restraint or legal disability. More broadly, it is also used for efforts to procure economic and social rights, political rights or equality, often for a specifically disenfranchi ...

slaves and other peasants from Northeast to Southeast, precipitating the decay of established

sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or do ...

oligarchies of the North. With the concurrent growth of coffee in the Southeast, São Paulo, now emerging as the central state, began to increase in power under the Old Republic. Northeastern landowners bitterly opposed rival oligarchs in São Paulo, explaining their role in the

Revolution of 1930 The Revolution of 1930 () was an armed insurrection across Brazil that ended the Old Republic. The revolution replaced incumbent President Washington Luís with defeated presidential candidate and revolutionary leader Getúlio Vargas, conclud ...

. There were more cases of organized political opposition to the coffee with milk politics before the

, such as the 1910 presidential election, disputed by

Hermes da Fonseca Hermes Rodrigues da Fonseca (; 12 May 1855 – 9 September 1923) was a Brazilian field marshal and politician who served as the eighth President of Brazil between 1910 and 1914. He was a nephew of marshal Deodoro da Fonseca, the first president ...

(

PRC China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

), supported by Minas Gerais, and

Ruy Barbosa Ruy Barbosa de Oliveira (5 November 1849 – 1 March 1923), also known as Rui Barbosa, was a Brazilian polymath, diplomat, writer, jurist, and politician. Born in Salvador, Bahia, and a distinguished and staunch defender of civil liberties and ...

( PRP), endorsed by São Paulo by means of the ; the election of

Epitácio Pessoa Epitácio Lindolfo da Silva Pessoa (; 23 May 1865 – 13 February 1942) was a Brazilian politician and jurist who served as 11th president of Brazil between 1919 and 1922, when Rodrigues Alves was unable to take office due to illness, after bein ...

( PRM) in

1919 Events January * January 1 ** The Czechoslovak Legions occupy much of the self-proclaimed "free city" of Pressburg (now Bratislava), enforcing its incorporation into the new republic of Czechoslovakia. ** HMY ''Iolaire'' sinks off the ...

; and the creation of the Liberator Party (PL) in 1928, in

Rio Grande do Sul Rio Grande do Sul (, , ; "Great River of the South") is a state in the southern region of Brazil. It is the fifth-most-populous state and the ninth largest by area. Located in the southernmost part of the country, Rio Grande do Sul is border ...

. In time, growing trade, commerce, and industry in São Paulo would serve to undermine the domination of the republic's politics by the landed gentries of the same state (dominated by the coffee industry) and Minas Gerais (dominated by dairy interests) — known then by observers as the politics of ''café com leite''. Under

Getúlio Vargas Getúlio Dornelles Vargas (; 19 April 1882 – 24 August 1954) was a Brazilian lawyer and politician who served as the 14th and 17th president of Brazil, from 1930 to 1945 and from 1951 to 1954. Due to his long and controversial tenure as Brazi ...

, ushered into power by the middle class and agrarian oligarchies of peripheral states resentful of the coffee oligarchs, Brazil moved toward a more centralized state structure that has served to regularize and modernize state governments, moving toward more universal suffrage and secret ballots.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coffe with milk politics Coffee with milk politics Coffe with milk politics Coffe with milk politics Coffe with milk politics Coffe with milk politics Coffe with milk politics Coffe with milk politics First Brazilian Republic

History

See also

References