He was the governor of the state of Rio Grande do Norte, from 1961 to 1966, later being arrested by the Brazilian military dictatorship through Institutional Act Number Five (AI-5) in 1969.

He moved to Rio de Janeiro in 1949 and became editor in chief to Tribuna da Imprensa, owned by Carlos Lacerda.

Alves was elected to be a federal deputy in 1945 and participated in the Constituent National Assembly to promulgate the new post-Vargas Constitution on 18 September 1946.

Angered, he withdrew politically from his mentor, became a member of the PSD, and was elected governor in 1960, beating deputy Djalma Marinho [pt] to the distaste of Mariz.

[8] An executive with the Union of Brazilian Businesses, Alves expanded his activities beyond the area of communications, and after the reintroduction of a multiparty system in Brazil in the waning days of the dictatorship, he became a member of the Peoples' Party.

[9] A strong supporter of Tancredo Neves' candidacy for president, he was nominated to be the Administrative Minister by the president-elect, later being confirmed for the position by his successor José Sarney, a post to which he served from 15 March 1985 to 15 February 1989.

In 1990, he was once again elected to become federal deputy, a position in which he would soon briefly resign from during the Itamar Franco administration to become his Minister of Regional Integration from 8 April 1994 to 1 January 1995.