Sao Paulo's Police Strike (13 and 14 January 1961)

Abstract

This article analyses the For Publica strike in Sao Paulo that took place on 13 and 14 January 1961. The Forca Publica was Sao Paulo's military police, which traditionally policed the city streets while armed and in uniform. The strike occurred during the serious socio-political turbulence of the early 1960s, when the Brazilian democratic regime that had been established in 1946 was crumbling. In hindsight, the Forca Publica strike presents a condensed picture of all of the ideological disputes regarding the police's corporate interests and the country's political future.