In 1964, when the military installed their dictatorship, Pinheiro was admitted to Law School at the State University of Guanabara (currently UERJ).

In the early 1990s, after the fall of the Iron Curtain, the PCB held a congress in which Freire and a group of Central Committee veterans had approved the self dissolution of the party.

In January 1992, the remnants of PCB formed the People's Socialist Party (PPS), which increasingly moved rightwards in the political spectrum.

At the 13th Congress of the PCB, in 2005, in Belo Horizonte, Ivan Pinheiro was elected secretary-general, and the party broke up with Lula.

In 2006, the PCB supported Heloísa Helena for president and Pinheiro ran for congress once more, but again wasn't elected.