In 1930 he joined the national rebellion against the Constitutional Brazilian government that began when the candidate who lost the 1930 election for president, Getúlio Vargas, alleged fraud and decided to take power by force.

João Punaro Bley joined the lines of the rebel Colonel Otávio Campos do Amaral and took part on the capture of Vitória (capital city of the state of Espírito Santo).

This governing Junta lasted for a few days, whereupon on November 22, 1930, João Punaro Bley was appointed Federal Interventor in Espirito Santo for an undetermined time by the newly installed de facto president of Brazil, Getúlio Vargas.

When Bley took office, the state of Espirito Santo was in a poor economic situation, as the Wall Street crash in 1929 directly affected the monoculture of coffee, the main export.

João Punaro Bley worked as commerce director at the Vale do Rio Doce until 1947, then he resumed his military career, from which he retired in 1962.