Milk coffee politics or ''café com leite'' politics () is a term that refers to the oligarchic domination of Brazilian politics under the so-called Old Republic (1889–1930) by the landed gentries of

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

(dominated by the

coffee industry Coffee is a beverage Coffee brew, brewed from roasted, ground coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a Stimulant, stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content, but decaffeinated coffee is ...

) and

Minas Gerais Minas Gerais () is one of the 27 federative units of Brazil, being the fourth largest state by area and the second largest in number of inhabitants with a population of 20,539,989 according to the 2022 Brazilian census, 2022 census. Located in ...

(dominated by the

dairy A dairy is a place where milk is stored and where butter, cheese, and other dairy products are made, or a place where those products are sold. It may be a room, a building, or a larger establishment. In the United States, the word may also des ...

industry), being represented by the Republican Party of São Paulo (PRP) and the Republican Party of Minas Gerais (PRM). The name alludes to the popular coffee beverage ''café com leite'', (), referring to the states' respectively dominant industry.

History

Under Brazil's Old Republic, the patron-client political machines of the countryside enabled agrarian oligarchs, especially coffee planters in the state of São Paulo, to dominate state structures to their advantage, particularly the weak central state structures that effectively devolved power to local agrarian oligarchies. Under the Old Republic, the coffee with milk politics rested on the domination of the republic's politics by the states of São Paulo and Minas Gerais — the largest in terms of population and wealth. One can illustrate the extent of that domination by noting that the first presidents of the republic were from São Paulo and thereafter succeeded by an alternation between the outgoing governors of the two leading states in the presidency. The coffee with milk politics rested on an oligarchic system known as coronelism. Known as the "rule of the

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

s", this term referred to the classic boss system under which the control of

patronage Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, art patronage refers to the support that princes, popes, and other wealthy and influential people ...

was centralized in the hands of a locally dominant oligarch known as a "colonel", particularly under Brazil's Old Republic, who would dispense favors in return for loyalty. Meanwhile, other states resented this grip on the central state by São Paulo and Minas Gerais. The severe drought of 1877 in the Northeast and the ensuing economic collapse — along with the

abolition of slavery Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the political movement to end slavery and liberate enslaved individuals around the world. The first country to fully outlaw slavery was France in 1315, but it was later used in its colonies. T ...

in 1888 — propelled the mass labor migration of emancipated slaves and other peasants from Northeast to Southeast, precipitating the decay of established

sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose Glucose is a sugar with the Chemical formula#Molecular formula, molecul ...

oligarchies of the North. With the concurrent growth of coffee in the Southeast, São Paulo, now emerging as the central state, began to increase in power under the Old Republic. Northeastern landowners bitterly opposed rival oligarchs in São Paulo, explaining their role in the Revolution of 1930. There were more cases of organized political opposition to the coffee with milk politics before the Revolution of 1930, such as the 1910 presidential election, disputed by Hermes da Fonseca ( PRC), supported by Minas Gerais, and Ruy Barbosa ( PRP), endorsed by São Paulo by means of the ; the election of Epitácio Pessoa ( PRM) in 1919; and the creation of the Liberator Party (PL) in 1928, in

Rio Grande do Sul Rio Grande do Sul (, ; ; "Great River of the South") is a Federative units of Brazil, state in the South Region, Brazil, southern region of Brazil. It is the Federative units of Brazil#List, fifth-most populous state and the List of Brazilian s ...

. In time, growing trade, commerce, and industry in São Paulo would serve to undermine the domination of the republic's politics by the landed gentries of the same state (dominated by the coffee industry) and Minas Gerais (dominated by dairy interests) — known then by observers as the politics of ''café com leite''. Under Getúlio Vargas, ushered into power by the middle class and agrarian oligarchies of peripheral states resentful of the coffee oligarchs, Brazil moved toward a more centralized state structure that has served to regularize and modernize state governments, moving toward more universal suffrage and secret ballots.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coffe with milk politics Coffe with milk politics Coffe with milk politics Coffe with milk politics Coffe with milk politics Coffe with milk politics Coffe with milk politics First Brazilian Republic