Operation Farroupilha
Operation Farroupilha was an alternative plan activated on April 1 after legalist general Ladário Pereira Teles took command of the 3rd Army in Porto Alegre and supported the second Legality Campaign initiated by Leonel Brizola.
Threats from the 3rd Army, which intended to requisition the Military Brigade, and from anti-coup demonstrators in front of the Piratini Palace, led to Meneghetti's escape from the capital in the afternoon.
Passo Fundo was chosen because of its proximity to the border with Santa Catarina, the alliance with Mayor Mário Menegaz, and the larger numbers of the Military Brigade in contrast to the Army.
[2] In 1961 Leonel Brizola, as governor, mobilized public opinion, political institutions, and the Military Brigade in the Legality Campaign to gain the inauguration of João Goulart.
[14] More than a year before the coup, Meneghetti, allied with the commander of the 3rd Infantry Division, General Olímpio Mourão Filho, was already drawing plans for a confrontation with the federal government.
The hypothesis was an "attempt by Jango to promote his permanence in power"; since the 3rd Army, headquartered in Porto Alegre, was under the ruling general Jair Dantas Ribeiro, a retreat to the countryside would be necessary.
Passo Fundo and Santa Maria, where Mourão commanded the 3rd Infantry Division until February 1963 (later moving on to São Paulo), were important in this plan.
The former, in the center of the state, and the latter, closer to the northern border, from where it would be possible to defend oneself from enemy forces in Porto Alegre, receive reinforcements or flee.
The Military Brigade was reliable, and the Army, an unknown; Passo Fundo had a large presence of the former (2nd Police Battalion)[a] and a small one of the latter (1st Squadron of the 20th Cavalry Regiment).
Its representatives in Porto Alegre and in the Legislative Assembly of Rio Grande do Sul were only reconciled with the PTB after the Reforms Rally, opposing the coup.
In municipal elections the party had run in alliance with Meneghetti, including in Passo Fundo, where the governor was a major supporter of Menegaz's candidacy.
[18] Caught by surprise on the afternoon of March 31st by news of the coup, the state government strove to ensure its success through "Operation Aliados," however without an open declaration.
The governor issued decrees opening extraordinary credit, summoning reserve officers from the Military Brigade, and requisitioning liquid fuel and radio and television stations.
[21][22] The predicted condition for Operation Farroupilha - the alignment of the entire 3rd Army with the federal government - would not in fact occur, as Ladário was unable to assert his authority over all the formations.
The Constitution defined the Military Police as auxiliary and reserve forces of the Army,[25] but according to the opinion of the State Prosecutor, Mário Mondino, only the President of the Republic could make the requisition.
Colonel Frota was summoned to the 3rd Army's HQ at 5 pm and refused to surrender, demanding a requisition from the governor or President of the Republic; even so, Ladario did not arrest him.
Besides the alliance with the mayor and the presence of the Military Brigade, the city is close to Cruz Alta, where General Adalberto had taken command after leaving Porto Alegre.
General Mário Poppe de Figueiredo, commander of the 3rd Infantry Division, joined around 11:30 am[33] and the next day even offered the city as the new seat of government.
With important members of the administration present, the core of the state government was now operating in an improvised manner in its new headquarters, the barracks of the 2nd Police Battalion.
[35] In the city, now baptized "Capital of Liberty," the governor requisitioned public vehicles and fuel and summoned the reserve officers of the Military Brigade.
His forces were swelled by the local Army garrison, volunteers, men from "colonels" in the neighborhoods and military police from the capital and other inland towns.
Sereno Chaise announced the end of the new Legality Chain, Brizola fled to the interior and the military started the arrests in Porto Alegre.
"[49] The governor's political gain was not as great as he had hoped, as the Liberator Party and the National Democratic Union (União Democrática Nacional - UDN), "revolutionaries of the first hour," demanded greater power and considered the flight to Passo Fundo as an indication of weakness.
