Orlando Brito, the first person granted amnesty after 1964.

By Denise Assis, from Journalists for Democracy

Perhaps few remember, but photographer Orlando Brito, who passed away last week at the age of 72 in Brasília, not only captured historical events. He also made history. Thanks to his instinct as a photojournalist (he lived up to that title like no other), amnesty was granted "by force," without further delay, despite protests from the military, on August 27, 1979. 

A bold move by Brito – as we, his friends and colleagues, called him – precipitated the announcement of the Amnesty. At a meeting in the home of the then Minister of Justice, Petrônio Portela, who had forgotten the draft with handwritten notes and alterations by the dictator Ernesto Geisel on the sofa, Brito picked it up and put it inside his shirt. O Globo newspaper printed the proposal the following day, and the amnesty became a "fait accompli," as he describes it in the detailed account he gave me by phone in August 2021. In a later meeting with Portela, already certain that he was the "thief" of the draft, the minister confided to him, laughing: "You are the first person to be granted amnesty." 

The Minister of Justice, Petrônio Portela, had just visited a group of political prisoners in Rio de Janeiro on July 22 of that year. They were on a hunger strike, demanding amnesty, reinforced by the streets, which were packed in all the capitals, where cries echoed: "Broad, general and unrestricted amnesty!"

The moment highlighted the need to take action on the matter, which was being discussed between President Ernesto Geisel, the Ministry of Justice, and the military leadership. A tug-of-war is perhaps the best definition for the battle being fought there. Portela, however, after what he saw and heard, drafted the project and sent it to Geisel, who made some amendments but awaited a signal from the barracks, which did not want the concession under any circumstances.

The law – which upon being enacted became Law 6683 – granted amnesty to political prisoners, those banished from the country by the dictatorship, and those affected in some way by its actions (such as public officials who lost their jobs). For the "military," it was a nightmare to have back those who had endured the most odious tortures, recounting their suffering in the dungeons. (Which ended up happening).

For 55 years, Brito walked the corridors of power, capturing decisive moments in national politics and moments of intimacy and reflection from the most important politicians, such as the photos of Ulysses Guimarães descending the ramp of the Planalto Palace for the last time, and the twilight of former president Itamar Franco, almost in agony, in backlighting that accentuated a moment of solitude, or farewell. Itamar would die three days later. Brito died after a complication from surgery he underwent while battling cancer, far from the luxury of the palaces he frequented so often. In the conversation, he mentioned that he was preparing a book about his 55-year career, which he would title: "From General to Captain". 

Ever since I received the news of his passing, I started searching for this recording, which I knew I had somewhere. It took me a few days to find it. Finally, rummaging through the archives, here is my friend Orlando Brito, talking to me days before the 42nd anniversary of Amnesty International last year. I was going to participate in a live stream about the topic and wanted to retrieve the episode in which he narrates his greatest and most important "prank". 

Those were difficult times, without cell phones, with the SNI (National Information Service) breathing down the necks of journalists and wiretapping newsrooms. The transmission to O Globo's headquarters in Rio is a true epic, which he describes with relish, aware that, in times of exception, transgressive attitudes are necessary. Thank you, Orlando Brito. (Listen to the audio in which he recounts how he "stole" the amnesty bill, becoming the first person to be granted amnesty).