A View from the Corner Bar: Sérgio Porto’s Satirical Crônicas and the Democradura

This article explores the nature and influence of the satirical journalism of Sérgio Porto, alias Stanislaw Ponte Preta, in Brazil from 1964 to 1968. Porto’s daily column in the Última Hora newspaper lampooned the Brazilian military dictatorship for its corruption, self-satisfaction, and ignorance and denounced its violence. At the same time, Porto carefully distanced himself from the radical left, appealing to a moderate popular audience. This strategy undermined the regime’s attempt to build a popular base of support and enabled Porto to avoid censorship during the early years of the regime. Porto’s death in 1968 coincided with an intensification of regime repression that made his style of moderate opposition increasingly untenable. Porto’s example inspired the more self-consciously rebellious new journalists of the subsequent stage of the dictatorship, particularly the editors of the subversive magazine O Pasquim. The article explores both the importance and the limitations of the moderate, sensual opposition delineated in Porto’s columns.