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Luís Carlos Prestes (January 3, 1898 – March 7, 1990) was a Brazilian
revolutionary A revolutionary is a person who either participates in, or advocates for, a revolution. The term ''revolutionary'' can also be used as an adjective to describe something producing a major and sudden impact on society. Definition The term—bot ...
and
politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...
who served as the general-secretary of the Brazilian Communist Party from 1943 to 1980 and a
senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...
for the
Federal District A federal district is a specific administrative division in one of various federations. These districts may be under the direct jurisdiction of a federation's national government, as in the case of federal territory (e.g., India, Malaysia), or the ...
from 1946 to 1948. One of the leading communists in Brazil, Prestes has been regarded by many as one of Brazil's most charismatic yet tragic figures for his leadership of the 1924 ''tenentist'' revolt and his subsequent work with the Brazilian communist movement. The 1924 expedition earned Prestes the nickname ''The Knight of Hope.'' Beginning in 1924, as a young army officer, Prestes was a leading figure in an abortive military revolt. After its failure, he led a band of rebel troops, known as the Prestes Column, on a three-year, 14,000-mile trek through the remote Brazilian interior in a futile attempt to stir peasant opposition to the Government. Eventually, the rebels went into exile in
Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...
. Although the effort failed, he became a romantic hero. He went on to become general-secretary of the Brazilian Communist Party, which advocated ending payments on the
national debt A country's gross government debt (also called public debt or sovereign debt) is the financial liabilities of the government sector. Changes in government debt over time reflect primarily borrowing due to past government deficits. A deficit occ ...
,
nationalization Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization contrasts with p ...
of foreign-owned companies, and
land reform Land reform (also known as agrarian reform) involves the changing of laws, regulations, or customs regarding land ownership, land use, and land transfers. The reforms may be initiated by governments, by interested groups, or by revolution. Lan ...
. Imprisoned after a violent uprising in 1935 and sentenced to 30 years in prison for ordering the execution of the teenager Elza Fernandes, he was released after
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
and later served briefly as a senator. He was the communist opposition throughout the Vargas Era in
Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
. In the 1980s, Prestes accused the Brazilian Communist Party of abandoning Marxist-Leninist philosophy. He was removed from the leadership in 1980 and expelled in 1984. He campaigned for
Leonel Brizola Leonel de Moura Brizola (22 January 1922 – 21 June 2004) was a Brazilian politician. Launched into politics by Brazilian president Getúlio Vargas in the 1930–1950s, Brizola was the only politician to serve as elected governor of two Brazil ...
, a
center-left Centre-left politics is the range of left-wing political ideologies that lean closer to the political centre. Ideologies commonly associated with it include social democracy, social liberalism, progressivism, and green politics. Ideas commonl ...
candidate, in the 1989 presidential election, won by
Fernando Collor de Mello Fernando Affonso Collor de Mello (; born 12 August 1949) is a Brazilian politician who served as the 32nd president of Brazil from 1990 to 1992, when he resigned in a failed attempt to stop his impeachment trial by the Brazilian Senate. Collor ...
.


Early life and Tenente revolt

Prestes was born in
Porto Alegre Porto Alegre (, ; , ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian Federative units of Brazil, state of Rio Grande do Sul. Its population of roughly 1.4 million inhabitants (2022) makes it the List of largest cities in Brazil, 11th-most p ...
in the southernmost state of
Rio Grande do Sul Rio Grande do Sul (, ; ; "Great River of the South") is a Federative units of Brazil, state in the South Region, Brazil, southern region of Brazil. It is the Federative units of Brazil#List, fifth-most populous state and the List of Brazilian s ...
on January 3, 1898. His father had been an officer in the army. With his family enduring financial difficulties after his father left them, Prestes enrolled in the Military School of Realengo in
Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...
(where future fellow-tenentes Antônio de Siqueira Campos and Eduardo Gomes also attended) at the age of 21, completing his military training in 1919. Specializing in
military engineering Military engineering is loosely defined as the art, science, and practice of designing and building military works and maintaining lines of military transport and military communications. Military engineers are also responsible for logistics b ...
, he finished first in his class. Although he played a key part in the planning of the revolt of 1922, Prestes actually missed out on the fateful "March of the 18," as he was in bed with typhoid fever when the revolt broke out. Since Prestes was not directly involved in the revolt, he escaped the prison sentences of some of his colleagues, but he was transferred to
Rio Grande do Sul Rio Grande do Sul (, ; ; "Great River of the South") is a Federative units of Brazil, state in the South Region, Brazil, southern region of Brazil. It is the Federative units of Brazil#List, fifth-most populous state and the List of Brazilian s ...
. When the 1924 revolt broke out in an attempt to once again bring an end to the First Republic, Prestes rose to a key position in the Tenentes movement, named for the role the lower-ranking officers played in the revolts of both 1922 and 1924. While not involved in the temporary takeover of
São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...
in July 1924, Prestes rose to fame when, after a failed attempt to take over a garrison, he met the rebels from São Paulo and led the combined group of tenentes and rebels in what came to be known as the "Prestes Column." Given his future political trajectory, it is more than a little ironic that Prestes rejected Siqueira Campos’s recommendation the tenentes affiliate with the communists in the international political arena. Over nearly 3 years, the column marched 25,000 kilometers (16,000 miles) across thirteen Brazilian states. The column, organized in protest of the politics and policies of the oligarchical First Republic (1889–1930), lacked the power to threaten the First Republic directly, but was nonetheless strong enough to resist the government’s efforts to apprehend and eliminate the Prestes Column, which ultimately went into exile in
Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...
in 1927. His ability to avoid defeat at the hands of government forces made Prestes somewhat of a folk hero both in
Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
and internationally.


In exile (1927–1930)

While in
Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...
, Prestes worked on road-building,
sanitation Sanitation refers to public health conditions related to clean drinking water and treatment and disposal of human excreta and sewage. Preventing human contact with feces is part of sanitation, as is hand washing with soap. Sanitation systems ...
, and other infrastructure projects for the British enterprise Bolivian Company Limited. In late 1927, the secretary-general of the Partido Comunista Brasileiro ( Brazilian Communist Party; PCB), Astrojildo Pereira, went to Bolivia to meet Prestes. During the visit, he left some
Marxist Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflic ...
works with Prestes and recommended an alliance with the Brazilian Communist Party. Ironically (given Prestes' future political path), the tenente turned down Pereira's recommendation, remaining in Bolivia until late 1928, when he went to
Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
and found work as an engineer. It was at this time that Prestes finally read Marxist works and began to identify with
socialism Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...
, a process further facilitated by his conversations with the Rodolfo Ghioldi, a key figure in Argentine communist politics, and August Kleine, who was a representative of the
Communist International The Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern and also known as the Third International, was a political international which existed from 1919 to 1943 and advocated world communism. Emerging from the collapse of the Second Internationa ...
in South America from 1930 through 1934.


1930 revolution

The ''tenente'' revolt heralded the end of the " coffee and milk" '' coronelismo'' politics and the beginning of social reforms. 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, conclu ...
ended Brazil's Old Republic. Joined by many moderate ''tenentes'', but not Prestes, the Revolution of 1930 installed
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 until his suicide in 1954. Due to his long and contr ...
as Brazil's provisional president. Although the ''tenentes'' sympathized with him, Vargas was a far more conservative figure. Because the ''tenentes'' wanted Prestes to join Vargas, Prestes decided to meet him in
Porto Alegre Porto Alegre (, ; , ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian Federative units of Brazil, state of Rio Grande do Sul. Its population of roughly 1.4 million inhabitants (2022) makes it the List of largest cities in Brazil, 11th-most p ...
and explained his idea of socialist revolution to Vargas for about two hours. Vargas was highly impressed by Prestes and even donated 800 '' contos de réis'' (about $400,000 at the time, or about $5,860,000 in 2017 USD) to the revolutionary cause. However, Prestes viewed Vargas as the leader of a
bourgeois The bourgeoisie ( , ) are a class of business owners, merchants and wealthy people, in general, which emerged in the Late Middle Ages, originally as a "middle class" between the peasantry and Aristocracy (class), aristocracy. They are tradition ...
revolution and believing that the Liberal Alliance was merely going to replace one oligarchical system with another, Prestes fatefully declined. He attempted to create the League of Revolutionary Action, a "third path" that differed from the Liberal Alliance and the First Republic, but the movement failed to gain enough adherents to be sustainable. Continuing to deploy Marxist analysis in his consideration of Brazilian politics and society, he nonetheless was excluded from the Brazilian Communist Party, which had begun replacing intellectuals with workers in the party structure. Ultimately, Prestes once again went into a self-imposed exile, this time in
Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...
.


Alignment to Marxism

In 1931, he went to the
USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
where he worked as an engineer and continued his study of
communism Communism () is a political sociology, sociopolitical, political philosophy, philosophical, and economic ideology, economic ideology within the history of socialism, socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a ...
. At the end of 1934, he left the Soviet Union to return to Brazil, accompanied by his soon-to-be wife, Olga Benário, an agent of the Communist International assigned to provide security for him. In 1935, he was made a member of the executive committee of the Communist International and is reported to have earned the confidence of Stalin. In that same year, he became the leader of the Aliança Nacional Libertadora (National Liberation Alliance) (ANL), a left-wing popular front, consisting of socialists, communists, and other progressives led by the Communist Party in opposition to Vargas' crackdown against
organized labor The labour movement is the collective organisation of working people to further their shared political and economic interests. It consists of the trade union or labour union movement, as well as political parties of labour. It can be considere ...
. Getúlio Vargas, who had by this time become Brazil's legally recognized president (no longer merely ''ad interim''), thus looked to a form of
authoritarian Authoritarianism is a political system characterized by the rejection of political plurality, the use of strong central power to preserve the political ''status quo'', and reductions in democracy, separation of powers, civil liberties, and ...
government. He endeavored to suppress his enemies on the left, led by Prestes, through violence and state terror in order to survive with his coalition intact during the agitated years that began in 1934. Vargas had become allied with Brazil's agrarian oligarchies, having an established network of economic and political power, and the Integralists, a
fascist Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural soci ...
movement with a mass popular base in urban Brazil. Vargas's political power forced the
Brazilian Congress The National Congress () is the legislative body of Brazil's federal government. Unlike the state legislative assemblies and municipal chambers, the Congress is bicameral, composed of the Federal Senate (the upper house) and the Chamber of D ...
to respond to the growth of the communist movement. While former tenentes and colleagues such as Eduardo Gomes, Juracy Magalhães, and Juarez Távora were increasingly moving rightward, Prestes had soured on the Vargas government after supporting his rise in 1930. With Prestes's affiliation with the ANL, its membership grew in the course of 1935, and, in a moment of overconfidence, the ANL issued a manifesto that called for the overthrow of the Vargas government. Vargas used the opportunity to declare the ANL an illegal organization; when Prestes and other members of the ANL launched an
insurrection Rebellion is an uprising that resists and is organized against one's government. A rebel is a person who engages in a rebellion. A rebel group is a consciously coordinated group that seeks to gain political control over an entire state or a ...
in November 1935 in
Rio Grande do Norte Rio Grande do Norte (, , ) is one of the states of Brazil. It is located in the northeastern region of the country, forming the northeasternmost tip of the South American continent. The name literally translates as "Great Northern River", refe ...
, Vargas's government quickly cracked down and ended it. Miscalculating Vargas's intentions, the ANL ultimately created the pretext that allowed Vargas to further solidify his control, going after a broader range of critics and opponents of his government. Prestes avoided the initial wave of crackdowns, but by March 1936, both he and Olga had been imprisoned. Given her status as a foreigner, Vargas sent a pregnant Olga back to
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...
. After the revolt failed, the leaders were arrested and tried for sedition in 1937. Prestes was sentenced to 16 years in prison. In 1943, while still in prison, Prestes was elected general secretary of the Communist Party of Brazil.


Imprisonment

As a result of Vargas' increased political power, the
Brazilian Congress The National Congress () is the legislative body of Brazil's federal government. Unlike the state legislative assemblies and municipal chambers, the Congress is bicameral, composed of the Federal Senate (the upper house) and the Chamber of D ...
branded all leftist opposition as "subversive" under a March 1935 National Security Act. The new act allowed the President to ban the ANL. Vested with its new emergency powers, the federal government imposed a crackdown on the entire left, with arrests, torture, and summary trials. By mid-1935 Brazilian politics had become drastically destabilized. In July the government moved against the ANL, with troops raiding offices, confiscating propaganda, seizing records, and jailing leaders. The ANL resorted to its armed insurrection in November, but it was quickly defeated. The authoritarian regime, like its fascist counterparts in Europe, responded by imprisoning and torturing Prestes and violently crushing the communist movement through state terror. Vargas, seeking to co-opt Brazil's fascist movement and paramilitary, known as "Integralism" and led by
Plínio Salgado Plínio Salgado (; January 22, 1895 – December 8, 1975) was a Brazilian politician, writer, journalist, and theologian. He founded and led Brazilian Integralist Action, a political party inspired by the Fascism, fascist regime of Benito Mussoli ...
, tolerated a tide of
anti-Semitism Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...
, and may have targeted Prestes' wife to appease his new supporters. Vargas deported the pregnant, German-Jewish wife of Luís Carlos Prestes, Olga Benario, to
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...
, where she later was murdered by her Nazi captors in a
concentration camp A concentration camp is a prison or other facility used for the internment of political prisoners or politically targeted demographics, such as members of national or ethnic minority groups, on the grounds of national security, or for exploitati ...
.


Political career

After Vargas began abandoning fascist-style autocracy in 1945, following his rapprochement with the World War II Allies in 1943, political prisoners were released. Prestes was released from prison in May 1945 in an amnesty for political prisoners. With the overthrow of the Vargas regime in October 1945, new elections took place. Prestes gave an astute assessment of Vargas' politics, commenting, "Getúlio is very flexible. When it was fashionable to be a fascist, he was a fascist. Now that it is fashionable to be democratic, he will be a democrat." Despite his own treatment at the hands of Vargas, and the fate of his wife, Prestes threw his support behind Vargas in the name of national unity. Once more he plunged into the political arena. With about 6 months in which to work before the presidential election, Prestes set about reorganising the Communist Party, which numbered only 4000 members. The communists showed unprecedented strength in the ensuing elections, polling some 700,000 or 15 percent of the total. In the elections of December 2, 1945, Prestes won the highest number of votes in his race for the senator of the Federal District. Prestes's election coincided, however, with the beginning of the
Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...
. As a senator, Prestes played a part in the writing of a new constitution in 1946. Later that month, Vargas was ousted by the hard-right wing of the military partly because of his liberalizing moves; the communist movement became persecuted once again. In May 1947, the Brazilian government outlawed the Communist Party, and Congress followed suit by ousting its communist members. Prestes immediately went into hiding and operated underground for 10 years. He refused to support any of the candidates in the 1950 election, and remained an open critic of Vargas's presidency up through the latter's suicide in 1954. Prestes did support the candidacy of
Juscelino Kubitschek Juscelino Kubitschek de Oliveira (; 12 September 1902 – 22 August 1976), also known by his initials JK, was a Brazilian politician who served as the 21st president of Brazil from 1956 to 1961. Kubitschek's government plan, dubbed "50 years i ...
in 1955, and began to play a more public role even while the PCB remained illegal. With the ascendance of
João Goulart João Belchior Marques Goulart (; 1 March 1919 – 6 December 1976), commonly known as Jango, was a Brazilian politician who served as the president of Brazil from 1961 until a military coup d'état deposed him in 1964. He was considered the ...
to the presidency in the wake of
Jânio Quadros Jânio da Silva Quadros (; 25 January 1917 – 16 February 1992) was a Brazilian lawyer and politician who served as the 22nd president of Brazil from 31 January to 25 August 1961, when he resigned from office. He also served as the 24th a ...
's abrupt resignation in August 1961, Prestes, like others on the left (and not just in the PCB) saw a chance for real reform for Brazil's workers and peasants, and he continually publicly pressured Goulart to accelerate reforms in Brazil. Of course, amidst the polarization of the Cold War, the middle classes, conservatives, and military saw the spectre of communism in Goulart's eventual leftward shift; determined to prevent a communist "dictatorship," the military overthrew Goulart and instead ushered in a conservative dictatorship. Once again living under a
right-wing Right-wing politics is the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position based on natural law, economics, authority, property ...
regime, Prestes once again went underground, then exile, as the military targeted other veteran PCB members such as Gregório Bezerra. Even while former tentente Eduardo Gomes served as the Minister of the Air Force during the military dictatorship, former tenente Luís Carlos Prestes was constantly attempting to avoid military repression. Yet that was not the least of Prestes' problems. Long acknowledged as a leader in Brazilian communism, the heterogeneity of Marxism both globally and in Brazil transformed his role in the 1960s. Under the presidency of
João Goulart João Belchior Marques Goulart (; 1 March 1919 – 6 December 1976), commonly known as Jango, was a Brazilian politician who served as the president of Brazil from 1961 until a military coup d'état deposed him in 1964. He was considered the ...
(1961–1964), a protégé of Getúlio Vargas, and another gaúcho from
Rio Grande do Sul Rio Grande do Sul (, ; ; "Great River of the South") is a Federative units of Brazil, state in the South Region, Brazil, southern region of Brazil. It is the Federative units of Brazil#List, fifth-most populous state and the List of Brazilian s ...
, the closeness of the government to the historically disenfranchised working class and peasantry and even to the Communist Party under none other than Luís Carlos Prestes was equally remarkable. Goulart appeared to have been co-opting the communist movement in a manner reminiscent of Vargas' co-option of the Integralists shortly, and not coincidentally, before his ouster by reactionary forces. Once again, Prestes was imprisoned and the communist movement was persecuted. The experience of the failed ''tenente'' rebellion and Vargas' suppression of the communist movement left Prestes, and some of his comrades, skeptical of armed conflict for the rest of his life. His well-cultivated skepticism later helped precipitate the permanent schism between hardline
Maoists Maoism, officially Mao Zedong Thought, is a variety of Marxism–Leninism that Mao Zedong developed while trying to realize a socialist revolution in the agricultural, pre-industrial society of the Republic of China and later the People's Re ...
and orthodox Moscow-influenced militants in the Brazilian Communist Party during the early 1960s. Prestes went on to lead the pro-Soviet faction of the party known as the Brazilian Communist Party (or PCB) while the Maoists formed the
Communist Party of Brazil The Communist Party of Brazil (, PCdoB) is a List of political parties in Brazil, political party in Brazil. The PCdoB officially adheres to Marxist–Leninist theory. It has national reach and deep penetration in the trade union and Student ...
(or PCdoB). While the Maoists went underground and engaged in urban combat against the
military dictatorship A military dictatorship, or a military regime, is a type of dictatorship in which Power (social and political), power is held by one or more military officers. Military dictatorships are led by either a single military dictator, known as a Polit ...
after 1964, Prestes' faction did not.


Later life and death

In 1970, Prestes went to Moscow with his second wife, Maria Prestes, and their children, and only returned to Brazil after
amnesty Amnesty () is defined as "A pardon extended by the government to a group or class of people, usually for a political offense; the act of a sovereign power officially forgiving certain classes of people who are subject to trial but have not yet be ...
for political offenders was granted ten years later. By the mid-1970s, the dictatorship, having effectively eliminated the other armed leftist movements, turned its sights on the PCB, targeting and killing some of its top leaders, but by that point, Prestes had been in exile for a number of years. Ultimately, Prestes returned to Brazil with the military's general amnesty of 1979 that pardoned political prisoners and exiles (while also pardoning any and all military members and officials tied to torture or the execution of the regime's opponents). Despite the return of the man many saw as the figurehead and leader of the Brazilian Communist Party, the remnants of the party remained divided over what paths to pursue as Brazil returned to democratization, riven by questions over whether to support the institutional transition or to demand a more radical revolution. While many could and did acknowledge Prestes's historical importance to the left in Brazil, they felt that, at over 80 years old, he was no longer the appropriate leader, and he was removed from his position as secretary-general of the PCB. He became a supporter of the Brazil's Democratic Labour Party and took part in
Leonel Brizola Leonel de Moura Brizola (22 January 1922 – 21 June 2004) was a Brazilian politician. Launched into politics by Brazilian president Getúlio Vargas in the 1930–1950s, Brizola was the only politician to serve as elected governor of two Brazil ...
's presidential campaign in 1989. In his final days, nearly penniless, Prestes was largely supported by architect
Oscar Niemeyer Oscar Ribeiro de Almeida Niemeyer Soares Filho (15 December 1907 – 5 December 2012), known as Oscar Niemeyer (), was a Brazilian architect considered to be one of the key figures in the development of modern architecture. Niemeyer was b ...
, a long-time communist sympathizer and designer of many buildings in
Brasília Brasília ( ; ) is the capital city, capital of Brazil and Federal District (Brazil), Federal District. Located in the Brazilian highlands in the country's Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West region, it was founded by President Juscelino ...
. Prestes died of a
heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...
on March 7, 1990, aged 92.


See also

* Olga Benário Prestes * Carlos Marighella *
João Goulart João Belchior Marques Goulart (; 1 March 1919 – 6 December 1976), commonly known as Jango, was a Brazilian politician who served as the president of Brazil from 1961 until a military coup d'état deposed him in 1964. He was considered the ...
*
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 until his suicide in 1954. Due to his long and contr ...
* Brazilian Communist Party *
Tenentism Tenentism () was a political philosophy of junior army officers (, , "lieutenants") who significantly contributed to the Brazilian Revolution of 1930 that ended the First Brazilian Republic. Background The first decades of the 20th century saw ...
*
Brazilian communist uprising of 1935 The 1935 Brazilian communist uprising (Portuguese language, Portuguese: ''Intentona Comunista'') was a military revolt in Brazil led by Luís Carlos Prestes and leftist low-rank military against Getúlio Vargas's government on behalf of the Nati ...
* '' The Knight of Hope'', biography of Prestes by
Jorge Amado Jorge Amado ( 10 August 1912 – 6 August 2001) was a Brazilian writer of the modernist school. He remains the best-known of modern Brazilian writers, with his work having been translated into some 49 languages and popularized in film, includi ...
* Coluna Prestes, that preceded and perhaps inspired the Chinese
Long March The Long March ( zh, s=长征, p=Chángzhēng, l=Long Expedition) was a military retreat by the Chinese Red Army and Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from advancing Kuomintang forces during the Chinese Civil War, occurring between October 1934 and ...


External links


A brief overview of the Prestes Column in Brazil 1924-1927

Prestes in Timeline
The most important dates of his career.

(in Portuguese)
O Velho - A História de Luiz Carlos Prestes
(Documentary about the life of Luís Carlos Prestes)


Footnotes


References

* ''The Prestes Column: Revolution in Brazil'', by Neill Macaulay (1974). * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Prestes, Luis Carlos 1898 births 1990 deaths People from Porto Alegre Brazilian anti-fascists Brazilian Communist Party politicians Brazilian expatriates in the Soviet Union Brazilian exiles Brazilian expatriates in Argentina Brazilian people convicted of murder Brazilian rebels Brazilian revolutionaries International Lenin School alumni People convicted of sedition People convicted of murder by Brazil People granted political asylum in the Soviet Union