|
| |||||||
| Date | December 1975-February 1985 | ||||||
| Location | Brazil, southern Colombia, northern Argentina | ||||||
| Result | Decisive Allied victory:
| ||||||
| |||||||
The Brazilian War was a conflict fought between 1975 and 1985 in the South American country of Brazil and partially in Colombian and Argentine territory. The war was initially fought between the Republicano guerrilla forces and the military regime of General Hugo Savala. Eventually, the Colombians and Argentineans became involved militarily and soon the United States of America entered the conflict as well, with the Savala regime receiving material support from the French Empire, Chile and Japan. In Brazil, the war is known as the Civil War.
After a long stalemate in northern Brazil and southern Colombia, as well as on both sides of the Parana River, that destroyed millions of acres of the Amazon rainforest in one of the world's worst ecological disasters, Allied forces eventually whittled down Brazilian forces, enforced a blockade and economic sanction regime on he Savala government, and in late 1984 and early 1985 rapidly advanced through the Brazilian heartland and captured Rio de Janeiro in a bloody battle, during which Savala committed suicide.
As many as seven million Brazilians are believed to have been killed in the conflict, almost 20 million were left homeless and Brazil remains a developing country as a result, although it showed promise in the 21st century. The war also established Colombia as the premier South American power, and a worthy NATO ally.
Background to 1974[]
Savala Coup[]
On February 21, 1974, the Brazilian military launched a coup in Rio de Janeiro, blockading the central government district and demanding the government dissolve immediately. General Savala appeared on national television that afternoon to guarantee peaceful transition from the elected government to an "interim" military transitional period in which he would oversee new elections that included his National Democratic Brazilian Party. This coup was initially supported by many in the country. Leaders of the deposed government were ordered to leave the city of Rio de Janeiro or be faced with temporary detainment, and the National Assembly was dissolved on February 24 without warning as Savala declared himself "interim President."
ERB Resistance and fighting in Northeast 1974-1977[]
Formation of the ERB[]
With the rapid consolidation of Savala's power in Rio de Janeiro during the spring of 1974, former members of the National Assembly fled north to cities such as Recife and Salvador, in particular after the murder of former Prime Minister João Magripe in Rio de Janeiro in March. By the early summer, Savala declared that new national elections would be held in September of 1974, and that parties the military deemed to be "supportive of policies prohibitive to the goodwill of Brazil and unpatriotic to the Mother Country" would be banned from participating. U.S. President Clyde Dawley dismissed these elections as fraudulent prior to their having occurred and encouraged fellow NATO members to sanction Brazil economically for its behavior, due largely from the assassination of Magripe. The elections, on September 4, 1974, provided a wide margin of victory for Savala's National Democratic Brazilian Party, which won almost all seats in the National Assembly and proceeded to ban three previous member parties from ever rejoining the body. The new National Assembly, which included only the minority Brazilian Revolutionary Party and the mainstream conservative National Democratic Union, declared Savala as President of Brazil and General Martim Almeida as Prime Minister of Brazil. The two men would remain in those positions until 1985.
On September 15, 1974, exiled members of the old democratic government announced the formation of the Brazilian Republican Authority (Autoridade Republicana Brasileira, ARB), an opposition organization which advocated for open and free elections in Brazil within six months and which declared Savala's regime and hold on power illegitimate. Many members of the ARB were evacuated from Brazil that October after two senior members were assassinated, and the ARB's official headquarters were established in Washington, D.C. as a government in exile.
On October 18, Savala declared the ARB a "subversive, unpatriotic and un-Brazilian terrorist organization" and authorized the military to use lethal means to find its members. The ARB subsequently formed the Brazilian Republican Army (ERB) two days later, beginning the civil war.
Setbacks for ERB Guerrilla Campaigns and Rise of As Milicias[]
ERB Flight to Colombia and 1976-77 Guerrilla Campaigns[]
Diplomatic Standoff and American Recognition of ARB[]
Brazilian Invasion of Colombia: 1977-78[]
Invasion of Venezuela: November 1977[]
On November 10, 1978, Savala authorized the top secret "Operation: Consequence," in which 30,000 Brazilian soldiers pushed north out of Boa Vista under heavy air cover, attempting to secure land and water transport routes in and out of the Guyanese Highlands within Colombia territory. The operation was expected to last no more than seven days, in which time the force was to move rapidly into the mountains, which it would take by surprise, to prepare to push towards the Orinoco if the Colombians did not yield. Brazilian military intelligence estimated that the underequipped, smaller Colombian military would struggle to respond to its ataque relampago, or lightning attack. Critical to the potential success of Consequence was a heavy strategic bombing campaign against both military and civilian targets throughout the Guyanese Highlands and beyond, including the destruction of the Angostura Bridge, the only land connection over the river, hydroelectric plants and heavy bombing of Ciudad Guayana and Ciudad Bolivar.
The initial push was a dramatic success; despite poor road access, firebombing of the jungle blazed a path for troops to advance and the battalions stationed on the border were quickly overwhelmed. Advanced Brazilian interceptors shot down a quarter of the Colombian Air Force's planes within 24 hours. The targeted bridges and dams were heavily damaged, though not destroyed, crippling the eastern Colombian economy and triggering a refugee crisis that stalled the responding Colombian military, allowing aggressive bombing beyond the Orinoco of both military and civilian targets on the roads. The shock of the attack quickly backfired on Savala's advancing men; the ERB, which had been training in jungle environments for years, quickly set upon them with aggressive ambushes, particularly focusing on harrying Brazilian vehicles and forcing the infantry advance onto foot, especially in the difficult terrain of the highlands.
Brazil's advance ground to a halt in Guyanese Highlands and a declaration of war by Colombia soon followed, shocking Savala; he and Almeida had anticipated the sweeping attack to so stun the Colombian government of Perez that they would immediately agree to terms to avoid further embarrassment. The successful shootdown of two Brazilian Mirages on November 20th as they approached Ciudad Bolivar further galvanized Colombian public opinion; Perez the next day gave a rousing address to a crowd of nearly 200,000 people, and over a million men volunteered within the first week of fighting. Brazil's initial advantage ran aground amid small-arms attacks in jungle environments that their air support had difficult piercing; the Guyanese Highlands would be one of the main theaters of operation in the war for the next three years, presaging one of the greatest ecological disasters in human history as the conflict spread throughout the Amazon Basin.